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| Women are changing, according to Ed Wood. (Photo from Two Plus Two) |
NOTE: This article continues my coverage of Ed Wood's When the Topic is Sex (BearManor Media, 2021).
The article: "The Changing Woman." Originally published in Two Plus Two (Pendulum Publishing), vol. 3, no. 3, September/October 1971. No author credited.
Excerpt: "Many social critics have explained the turbulence of modern times in terms of the seize-the-day life-style of the Atomic Age. Bedroom troubles can often be traced to the same source. Why should a young woman live out the best years of her life, the years of her youth and beauty, with a man who has not begun to tap her pleasure resources?"
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| Was Ed responding to this book? |
Reflections: Ed Wood, feminist? You're correct to be skeptical. If you've read Nightmare of Ecstasy (1992), specifically the parts detailing Ed's marriage to Kathy Wood, you know that he was not exactly an ally to the women's rights movement. He had more of a caveman mentality in that department. But for an article called "The Changing Woman" in 1971, he at least tried to look at sex and marriage from a woman's perspective. The title, I'm sure, is meant to evoke The Sensuous Woman (1969), the groundbreaking book by Terry Garrity (credited only as "J") that told women it was healthy and normal to enjoy sexuality.
In "The Changing Woman," Ed Wood basically furthers the message of The Sensuous Woman, although, unlike that book, he does not focus on female masturbation. Instead, he focuses on women demanding and receiving satisfaction while having sex with their husbands. Women can't be denied pleasure anymore, says Ed. They've read the findings of Kinsey and Masters and Johnson and have thus become more knowledgeable about sex. The days of them being submissive slaves to their husbands are over. Ed presents this as a step forward for humanity, but maybe there's a touch of fear in it, too, as if some powerful force has been unleashed on the world and now cannot be controlled.
Eddie also launches what must be his most scathing attack on the institution of marriage. I was actually a little taken aback by this passage:
The relation of the sexes in marriage in this country provides one of the greatest mysteries of our culture: how has the institution of matrimony managed to survive such an absurd, unequal, humiliating, exasperating arrangement? We all know the misconceptions involved. The man is the master—sexually as well as authoritatively and economically. The husband takes, the wife gives, submits, yields, and likes it.
Yes, Ed Wood refers to marriage as "absurd, unequal, humiliating" and "exasperating." Perhaps he was too much in denial to realize that he embodied all the worst sexist stereotypes described in his own article! Or perhaps he did feel guilty about his treatment of Kathy, and this article was his way of atoning for past sins. Only the infinity of a man's mind can really tell the story.
Eddie also writes a lot about the long-running "cold war" between men and women and seems to believe (or worry?) that women will be the ultimate victors. It's interesting that Ed's pal Criswell espoused similar views on his 1970 album The Legendary Criswell Predicts Your Incredible Future. It's my pet theory that Ed ghostwrote at least part of that astonishing LP. In one telling excerpt from the album, Criswell intones:
I predict that man will truly be the slave of woman. You women now control 93% of the wealth and spend 87 cents out of every dollar, so what are we poor men to do? Personally, I welcome it, because we men have made such a mess of things, you women must naturally come to our rescue and do better.
I can very easily imagine Eddie and Cris getting drunk on cheap wine and talking about all of these issues. When it comes to the advancement of women in the 20th century, Ed sees two major milestones: the 19th amendment and the invention of the pill.
By the way, I should mention that Ed Wood finds a comfortable balance between research and improvisation in "The Changing Woman." When discussing female orgasms, he quotes specific, scholarly passages from Human Sexual Response (1966) by Masters and Johnson. So the article has some scientific validity. For the most part, though, this is just Eddie philosophizing off the top of his head. That's good, because it leads to wonderfully incoherent passages like this one:
Selflessness and the ability to give are as important in sex as they are in life. Unfortunately, many women still take to bed with them the old attitude that they are doing their mates a favor just by letting them have their way. They still harbor the old notion that it is more than enough that a man should be allowed to touch their nudity, let alone penetrate them.
"Touch their nudity"? Okay, Ed, whatever you say.
Next: "Trucking's a Ball" (1974)