“Borrowed Babies”

Event 1 Response

On February 25th I attended the play called “Borrowed Babies”. Borrowed Babies touches on the ever-evolving role of women and mother in American society over the last 60 years. “Borrowed Babies” includes themes of feminism, women in the workforce and the balance of work and motherhood, and gender roles which relates to some of the themes we have discussed in class over the course of the semester so far.

The play is about a Professor of Home Economics named Judy London who operates a University “practice houses” for home economics students in 1952. Until the 1960s, infants were removed from orphanages and maternity wards and used as ‘practice babies’ in college home economics departments across the country. There are 4 senior home economics major who live in the house to help take care of the practice baby. The 4 students names are: Betty, Bernie, Louise, and Vera. These 4 women all work together to care of the practice baby named Katherine and discuss their personal story and what they want to do after graduation throughout the play.

The play takes place in Spring 1982 and 1952 and the stage is set up as Judy London’s classroom/office in the Home Economics Practice Home at a midsize midwestern university. Two characters played the part in 1982, Shelly and Wendy. Shelly is an undergraduate student in Judy’s personal finance class and Wendy is fifteen weeks pregnant and is in search of her birth parents. The play does a great job going back and forth between both time periods.

I was a little confused at first about Shelly and Wendy’s role in the play. But towards the end I realized that Wendy was the ‘practice baby’. Wendy was upset at first when she found out she was the ‘practice baby.’ But Judy explained to her how her mother died and her father didn’t want her so she took her in so she wouldn’t be in an orphanage. This led me to wonder why he didn’t want her, was it because she was a girl? This came to mind because in the film The World Before Her, having a girl is frowned upon in India, to the extent of killing the baby or putting the baby up for adoption. Also, I considered how gender roles played part in the father’s decision because in the 1950’s the wife’s primary duty was to be a caregiver while the husband worked.

After the 4 students completed the course and were ready to graduate Judy wanted to continue to care for the practice baby; she bought her new clothes and toys. It wasn’t until Mrs. McGuinness walked in and said that she has to take the baby away from her, the child welfare bureau reflected this decision. What stood out to me was that if Judy was married it would be a different story. This shows how back then it was crucial for women to get married in order to raise a child, and there was no such think of women being independent enough to even care for a child. It reminds me of Kavita Ramdas Ted Talk where she mentions how her aunt was widowed early and stripped of her culture just because she was widowed and it was frowned upon that she didn’t have a husband anymore.

Another scene that stood out to me was how Judy couldn’t be a professor anymore, because she was a woman. The University took advantage of her and tried to strip her career away from her because in the 1950’s women were only seen as being house wives. Being an unmarried women in the 1950’s was very frowned upon. This proves how gender roles were strict. In the 1950s, women felt tremendous societal pressure to focus their aspirations on a wedding ring instead of a career, their “career” that was accepted in society was being a housewife.

Although women had other aspirations in life, the dominant theme promoted in the culture and media at the time was that a husband was far more important for a young woman than a college degree. One student got engaged, something that stood out to me was how her father asked him how much money he makes before he proposed.

Another particular moment that stood out to me from this play was how Bernie had dreams to move to New York after graduation and live with Betty, to pursue a career in physics, but her parents shame her for it so she doesn’t end up not going. A quote that caught my attention was when Bernie said that her dad said , “Sluts and whores live in the city”-Bernie’s dad. This really stood out to me that he stereotyped women living in the city as sluts and whores. It especially caught my attention because I can’t imagine my father stopping me from following my dreams and calling women such vulgar names. Also, Betty explains that her dad already thinks college is pointless for women and once she “gets it out of her system” she will come home, marry and be a wife. This moment proves how time’s have changed from the 1950’s to now, because in today’s society, more then often, parents encourage their child to get an education and attend college, and it is very rare for a woman to get married immediately after college in today’s society.

When I attended the play, I reflected on the numerous topics in class and how this play related to the course. Topics relating to gender roles, society norms, and struggles women my age faced to meet the “society norms” in the 1950s. Overall, characters in the play did a fantastic job playing their part in “Borrowed Babies.”