"Womansworld" - 2012

A young, blonde woman dressed in a brown business suit and shirt is standing in the middle of a studio. A head mike is fixed to her cropped hair. The presenter's smile is flawless and dazzling as she begins speaking in a very clear and articulate voice. "Good morning! I'm Kimberley Mason of ZX News and I'd like to tell you about a groundbreaking new movie called Womansworld". The camera pans to the image of a movie poster advertising the film. The word "Womansworld" in pink lettering and with strategically placed shining jewels dominates the advertisement. Underneath, in smaller lettering is the sentence "What would happen if women ruled the world?" There is the image of a man, dressed in a flowery frock, stockings and high heels, with his face made up, looking thoroughly miserable. The prettifed male is lying on the ground. Behind him, a smiling woman clad in a tuxedo has one of her feet placed on the man's body and she has raised a clenched fist in the air in a victory pose. The image is iconic and quite startling. Kimberley Mason pauses for a moment to let her audience, both in the studio and all over the country, take in the image, before resuming her commentary. "Womansworld is the latest offering from the exciting, if a little zany, director, Carla Boom, who, as you may remember, brought us such films as "Role Reversal", "Little Sissy" and of course, her most successful picture to date, "The Quarterback" where a high school girl replaced her boyfriend as the quarterback on the hitherto all-male football team". "Gender role reversal seems to be Boom's genre' and Womansworld takes her take on role reversal to a whole new level. Imagine, if you will, a future world where women have won the battle of the sexes. The government is made up of female politicians, women control all of the big corporations, they hold all of the most important jobs. Lawyers, Doctors, Engineers, Scientists. They're all women. They, and not men, own all of the wealth". "The men, having been roundly defeated in the battle of the sexes, have been relegated to being housewives, secretaries and doing the low paid jobs women used to do in the past. Women, now dominant, have even forced men to wear dresses and high heels!" There was a titter from the studio audience as the image of a man wearing a blouse, skirt, stockings and high heels appeared on a screen. He wore the same disgruntled look as the feminised male in the previous image. "Yes ladies! In Womansworld, this is how the typical man will be dressed! He will be forced to keep house for his female partner and mind her children while she goes out to work and earns the money". The image of a confident looking woman with short hair, dressed in a business suit and driving a top of the range car replaced the image of the feminine male. "Meet one of the new rulers of the world: A woman. This woman is no delicate flower needing a man to protect her and keep her. She is university educated, holds down an important job, earns all of the money for her family. She is assertive, confident and dominant. Her partner knows that SHE wears the pants!" Another titter from the largely female studio audience. "I'd like to introduce you to Amanda Fewkes, the lead actress in Womansworld, her co-star, Matthew Young, and Audrey Manning, Professor of Gender Studies at an eminent university". There was polite applause as the studio lights were raised to reveal a young woman in jeans and a print blouse, a young man dressed in jeans and a shirt, and a silver haired woman dressed in a smart business suit. They were seated together on a long couch. Kimberley Mason slid in between the young actor and actress and sat between them. "Miss Fewkes. Tell me about your character in Womansworld" Kimberley urged the young girl. Miss Fewkes was only too pleased to oblige "OK, I play Helen Windsor, this high powered executive who has been successful at university and in business and who ALWAYS gets what she wants. She's the wife to Matthew's character, though, she's the breadwinner and he has to keep house for her and look after our babies! It's such a great, empowering role!" she enthused. Kimberley turned to the actor "Matthew Young, up and coming actor, what was it like for you having to play a housewife and having to wear dresses?" The young actor looked slightly embarressed "After my previous roles as a soldier and a fireman, it was kind of weirdest role ever! I had to get my legs and arms waxed, wear make up and wear ladies' clothes. Then I had to play this submissive little househusband, running around in skirts after his wife and feeding his babies. It was a complete reversal of the man-woman roles. It was VERY strange to be a man in that position". "He even had wear a basque and seamed stockings!" said Amanda Fewkes, suppressing her giggles. "He makes a very sexy girl!" There was laughter from the audience as the image of Matthew Young, noted for playing ultra-macho roles, was seen in his basque, stockings and high heels. Matthew Young's cheeks coloured slightly. Kimberley Mason turned to the academic "Professor Manning, you've been on the set of the movie and have shown a great interest in its production. You are a close personal friend of Carla Boom. What's your take on Womansworld?" The silver haired academician smiled "Quite simply, Kimberley, Womansworld is prophecy. The world it shows is more reality than fantasy and the vision it portrays is inevitable" Manning stated in a tone of absolute certainty. "Inevitable?" "Yes, inevitable. I've seen all of the statistics and the future is definitely female. The gap between educational attainment between girls and boys is growing wider each year. Boys are falling further and further behind. Women are now the dominant majority in universities and fewer males than ever are going on to higher education, a trend which will increase in the years ahead. The law, medicine, advertising, marketing and even areas like information technology and computing are becoming increasingly female-dominated and will become ever more so as successive cohorts of university educated women take their places in the workforce. Opportunities for males are becoming limited to low paid, low status jobs that don't require much in the way of qualifications. The complete switch of traditional gender roles is already underway and will be an accomplished fact within, oh, two, maybe three generations time". Kimberley Mason turned back towards her audience and gave them another of her trademark beaming smiles "Thanks to my guests for their input on this fascinating insight into a gender role reversal world. Womansworld is due to premiere in a forthnight's time. Thank you and goodbye". The camera panned to the image of the befrocked male under the foot of a dominant woman before it faded out completely.