Donna Reed's daughter had this response to people who said her mother wasn't a feminist

"It makes me angry."

By the time The Donna Reed Show aired, Reed was already a household name with films like It's a Wonderful Life and From Here to Eternity. But at the time of the show's airing, and more frequently during its syndication, viewers began to take umbrage with Reed's depiction of the main character, Donna Stone. Stone, who was portrayed as a doting mother and loyal wife, was seen by some as a patriarchal portrayal of a woman that set the gender back. 

According to In Search of Donna Reed by Jay Fultz, MGM screenwriter William Roberts was tasked with creating the characters during the inception of The Donna Reed Show. When conceiving the character Donna, Roberts described her as a "wife, mother, companion, booster, nurse, housekeeper, cook, laundress, gardener, bookkeeper, club woman, choir singer, PTA officer, Scout leader, and at the same time effervescent, immaculate, and pretty."

You might recall that this statement is echoed by Reed herself in the show's episode, "Just a Housewife," where Donna begins to object to the title "Housewife," specifically the modifier that typically comes before it; As in, "I'm just a housewife." She tells a radio announcer who uses the moniker, "Every woman you call 'just a housewife' is a nurse, a psychologist, a diplomat, and a philosopher." While some people believed Donna's faultless perfection as a mother and wife to be an unattainable flaw, episodes of The Donna Reed Show like "Just a Housewife" helped to explore the dynamics of gender and mirrored conversations that we're still having decades later.

Fultz writes that Reed herself was certainly aware of the impact that her show had. Of the show, Reed later said, "My TV series certainly aggravated men. Hollywood producers were infuriated that Mom was equal and capable."

Reed's actual daughter, Mary Owen, spoke out against the belief that her mother was anti-feminist. When speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Owen stated, "It makes me angry. She was very much in the foreground of women being in charge. She did a lot of things moms on TV didn't do at the time. She ran for things. She bucked Alex on certain issues."

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

5 Comments

MrsPhilHarris 12 months ago
Not sure why people took umbrage. It was just a tv show. Geez.
LoveMETV22 MrsPhilHarris 12 months ago
You're so right. Different shows/series took different directions. How the characters were portrayed was just fictional and how the shows producers had the storyline(s) written. Can you imagine how entertainment (Film,TV Series) would have evolved if everything was written to cater to each group,(Pretty dull). To echo you " It was a TV show, not a documentary."
Runeshaper 12 months ago
Sounds like Donna Reed stood her ground.
HeleneNeiman 12 months ago
Well, I was angry at the episode where Donna had to trick Alex into letting her buy another dress for a social event...apparently, in those days, housewives only had one party dress. I don't remember exactly how she did it, but I think she should have stopped cooking and cleaning ( not to mention bedtime duties ) until she got that dress.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?