On 29 January 1964, Dr Strangelove hit the cinemas. Kubrick’s works make us think about who we are, although a sizeable school holds that Kubrick’s “we” extended only to men.
Strangelove has sexism explicit in the parody. When you call your presidential character “Merkin Muffley”, your chairman of the joint chiefs “Buck Turgidson”, and your RAF officer “Captain Mandrake”, there’s something in the air.
Then there’s “Jack D Ripper”. His insanely masculine assessment of chlorine in water gives the nexus between communism and women:
A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual, and certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works. I first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love…Yes, a profound sense of fatigue, a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I – I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence. I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women, er, women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake…but I do deny them my essence.
Today is a day for retrieving feminism from Kubrick’s curious conclave.
First, 29 January 1499 and the birth of Katharina von Bora, aka “die Lutherin” or “the Lutheress”, aka Mrs Martin Luther. The marriage is significant beyond the obvious reason that it took place at all, because it provides a Protestant gloss on the role of a woman in marriage. While Luther’s Bible accepted Paul’s edict in Ephesians 5.22 – “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” – Luther is recorded to have remarked:
You convince me of whatever you please. You have complete control. I concede to you the control of the household, providing my rights are preserved. Female government has never done any good.
Second, 29 January 1939 was the birth of Germaine Greer, author of The Female Eunuch. She may have had Ripper in mind when she said “I think that testosterone is a rare poison.”
Finally, 29 January 1954 and the birth of Oprah Winfrey. One of her lines, although not an original, has something for the male and for the female:
Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could have been any different.