How is art a form of protest today? The story of "9 to 5" and 9to5

Amy Lee Lillard
Jan 25
8 min read

Can art be a form of protest? Does art really work as resistance? And how can you make protest art?

In times like these, it's natural to wonder if art is really important. If writing, music, performance, and other creative work really matters.

I find hope and inspiration from looking at stories of artists using their work to resist the status quo. The story of the movie "9 to 5" is powerful example to show the way.

Listen to this story!

In 1980, a movie came out that seemed to tap into a moment. It was funny, sharp, and seemed to channel every working woman’s frustrations and fantasies. Plus, it came packaged with a killer soundtrack song.

But more than just a box office smash, the movie was actually created with and for a movement.

How did a small group of women activists influence Hollywood? How did a comedy smash tap into hidden truths about the workplace? And what can we learn from the movie 9 to 5, and its partnership with a labor movement of working women, about the power of art as resistance?

PART 1: Working 9 to 5

We’re not taught this in school (because we’re not taught most of the important stuff in school). But women have actually played a massive role in U.S. labor organizing from the start.

In 1909, 20,000 teen girls and immigrant women working in factories and sweatshops in NY and other cities walked off the job in a massive strike. When 146 workers died two years later in a factory because of locked doors, more strikes and organizing finally won better wages and hours.

In the 1930s and 40s, women faced off with cops outside auto factories where workers were sitting down on strike. They gave a face to the unions in the news, and won better wages and more demands.

By the 1970s, more and more women were in the workplace. And 1 in 3 was an office employee. They were the secretaries, the clerks, the ones keeping the offices running. They typed, they filed, they used massive copy machines. They got coffee, they took notes, and they did the work bosses didn’t want to do. They put up with constant sexual remarks and jokes, and dodged groping hands.

And with all that, they were still paid the least, ignored the most, and stuck without any chance of promotions or raises.

In 1970, Ellen Cassady was one of them, working as a typist in Boston. The job sucked – bad pay, boring, and no opportunities to move up.

One of those other women, Karen Nussbaum, was a passionate activist, working in anti-Vietnam war campaigns, civil rights, and women’s rights movement. And she realized – she could use her activist skills and stand up for her working rights, and those of the other women working in offices like hers.

They gathered some office worker friends, and started a newsletter called 9to5. They handed them out at bus stops on the way to the office. And soon, they started getting letters from other women office workers, filled with work horror stories, frustrations, and inequality.

In 1973, 9to5 began organizing public meetings. They set up base in the Boston YWCA. Their actions and protests often used humor and ridicule.

9to5 put out a call for people to nominate the worst boss of the year. Some of the nominees?

A boss that asked his secretary to type his daughter’s term paper
A boss that asked his secretary to go to a local bar with a paper and alert him of ‘hot babes’
A boss that asked his secretary to peel 14 carrots for him every morning – his diet.

The winner? The boss who made his secretary sew up the crotch of his trousers - while he was still wearing them. 9to5 showed up at the office, TV cameras next to them. Humiliating the boss the way they often humiliated workers.

Throughout the 1970s, 9to5 formed committees all around the country. They created a 9to5 Bill of Rights to demand respect, equal pay, and equal protection in the workplace. And they won – back pay, job postings, raises, childcare.

And then, a chance meeting marked a new chapter in their movement.

PART 2: Hanoi Jane

As I mentioned early, the co-founder of 9to5, Karen Nussbaum, was active in the anti-war movement. And that’s where she met Jane Fonda.

Jane Fonda is a fascinating person. She was the kid of actors, and went on to become a well-known and awarded actor in the 70s and 80s. And still acts today in shows like Grace and Frankie.

Along the way, Jane created fitness videos that 80s kids like me probably remembers. My mom worked out to that VHS tape every night next to my bedroom. I still remember Jane telling all the women to flex and point.

But more than anything, Jane Fonda was and is an activist.

In the early 1970s, she was a major presence and contributor to the Black Panthers, which put her under government surveillance. She was an active supporter of the anti-war and Native American civil rights movements.

In 1972, she toured North Vietnam, and got on the radio to plead to American troops to question their orders and stop bombing campaigns. She got the nickname “Hanoi Jane,” and got a lot of flak. It’s still brought up by lawmakers and news outlets as treason.

A few years later, she was channeling her learnings and passions as an activist into movies. She produced Coming Home, about war vets. She also made China Syndrome, about the dangers of accidents at nuclear power plants. It was pretty prescient: right after the movie was released, a nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island had a massive meltdown.

Plus – those 80s workout videos? She actually did that to fundraise for the Center for Economic Democracy.

But back to the 70s. Jane met Karen Nussbaum, who went on to create the 9to5 organization. Jane went to meetings, and listened to the stories of working women. And she found her next film project.

PART 3: The Boss

Jane and Karen worked together on a studio pitch for the movie idea. Then in 1978, once they got the green light for the movie, Jane brought script writers to a meeting of 9to5 workers in Cleveland.

Originally, Jane had been conceiving of the movie as a drama. But in this meeting, she asked maybe a strange question: "Do any of you fantasize about killing your boss?"

The exuberant reactions confirmed – the movie could, and should, be a comedy. As we know today with the Daily Show, John Oliver, Seth Meyers: We’re more likely to take our commentary with laughs. And making people laugh would make them more comfortable with the radical messages.

As the script writers made their drafts, and the movie went into production, 9to5 continued to act as advisor. So the script showed real experiences of working women (and not what writers imagined).

The finished movie, 9 to 5, is just… brilliant.

Jane plays a former housewife turned office worker. Lily Tomlin is the experienced assistant who’s passed over for promotion again, for the guy she trained. And Dolly Parton, in her first movie, is the new girl that’s being chased around the desk. Their boss is the “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” Mr. Hart.

The three women share their pains and frustrations together. And in one glorious sequence, all three of them share their fantasy for taking out Mr. Hart. Dolly, for example, is a cowgirl boss who harasses Mr. Hart with the same language he used on her, then ropes him up like a prize steer.

Then the movie gets wild: they accidentally poison Mr. Hart in his coffee, kidnap him, and keep him locked up as they take over the office.

…And no one really notices he’s gone.

Together they make the place a dream job – flex hours, day care, equal pay, training programs. The company performs better than it ever has. Eventually Mr. Hart escapes, but the damage is done. And the women have won.

The movie is hilarious, poignant, and pointed, and it did bonkers at the box office. It was the second highest-grossing movie of 1980 – behind Empire Strikes Back.

PART 4: A Cup of Ambition

The organization 9to5 put together a 20-city tour to accompany the film. The Movement Behind the Movie, as it was called, brought thousands out to demonstrate and attend meetings.

Jane herself joined the tour. She spoke at meetings. Passed out leaflets. Visiting NY Times to encourage women to unionize. She did a 15-second PSA. She said the movie was a lot of fun: but call this number and get your free 9 to 5 guide to office survival. Thousands did, and they got a mailing from the organization. And she talked it about it all during press.

And then… there’s the song. Dolly Parton wrote and sang the song “9 to 5,” and it hit number one on three separate charts. It also earned an Oscar nomination for best song.

PART 5: Tampax

After the movie, the 9to5 organization worked to build on the momentum. They had big plans, to unionize and protect more women, in more industries.

But then: Reagan was elected. And corporate America rejoiced. Union-busting became the order of the day. Gender equity took a nosedive. The religious right and the money men gained all the power.

The women got sneaky.

Since then, we’ve had ups and downs with labor organizing. And we’ve had backlash after backlash against gender equality movements.

But – the need for labor organizing endures. Gender inequality and harassment endures. So that film. That song especially.

And labor organizing continues, even in our new gilded age.

Conclusion

I watched 9 to 5 a lot as young kid. I loved the humor, the fantasy. I was fascinated with Dolly.

I had a sense by then that working sucked – my mom hated her job at the bank, my dad was doing undercover police work that stressed us all out. Both of them were working so hard to support three kids, and as the oldest daughter, I became the third parent at a very young age. I was an undiagnosed autistic kid who had to take care of my brothers, while being scared to death of 1980s realities – kidnapped kids in the neighborhood, nuclear war threats, harassment of young girls. Watching movies was an escape.

Decades later, as an adult, I watched 9 to 5 again. I was looking for that comedy, the fun song. And I was shocked at how radical it was. How pointed. How powerful.

The movie is dated, yes. It’s mostly white, yes. It’s still relevant, though. Because as women we may have come far on paper. We may have more nominal parity. But we’re still paid less, still treated like shit.

And damn if I haven’t dreamed of taking revenge on a boss.

All that to say: a film has endured for 45 years as a classic. And it was a deeply feminist and labor-based piece of art that supported a movement.

This movie survives because of the song – itself a clear labor anthem – and the comedy. We took our feminism like Mary Poppins, with a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down. And art has the particular power to do that. To make us more empathetic and understanding. To teach us about our world.

So with the story of 9 to 5 in mind, what we do from here?

We tell our stories. Even if the powers that be don’t want to hear them.
We use humor and satire to tell the truth so all can hear.
And we commit to making art as resistance for the long term, for a better world.

OUTRO

The Art of Resistance is a podcast from Rebel Yell Creative. To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

This is Amy Lee Lillard, and I wrote, narrated, and produced this show. Check the show notes for all sources. And head to rebelyellcreative.com for full show transcripts, art, and more.

I’ll see you next time.