Author: Kerry McElroy

Kerry McElroy

Kerry McElroy is a feminist film historian and doctoral candidate at Concordia University, Montreal. Her thesis, entitled Class Acts: A Socio-Cultural History of Women, Labour, and Migration in Hollywood, focuses on the actress as working class subject and includes fieldwork interviews she conducted with women in Hollywood across professions. Her latest publication is an upcoming book chapter focused on the actress as activist that examines Louise Brooks, Amber Tamblyn, and the Bill Cosby accusers. She holds master’s degrees from Columbia and Carnegie Mellon Universities.


Articles Written by Kerry McElroy:

“What Would Happen If ‘The Goods’ Got Together?”

Kerry McElroy writes the series conclusion of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein. This series has chronicled a century of Hollywood history, focusing on actresses who’ve navigated oppressive labor and sexual norms. Spanning eleven decades, the series revealed unexpected openings and also missed opportunities. Time and… Read more »

“There Were No Laws Against It Then”

Kerry McElroy writes about Elizabeth Taylor, Hugh Hefner, and other icons of mid-century culture for this sixth series installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein. The 1950s was the era of the frustrated housewife and The Feminine Mystique in American life. By the early 1960s,… Read more »

“The Studio Doesn’t Own Me’’

Kerry McElroy writes about female resistance in the 1950s for this fifth series installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein. The previous article in this series focused on, among other things, the impact of prewar international affairs on female suspension practices, legal battles over actress… Read more »

“Scores of ‘Starlets’ Like Me… Fifty Bucks a Week’’

Kerry McElroy writes about female solidarity and court victory in this fourth series installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein. This article, focusing on women in Hollywood in the 1940s, covers both some familiar and novel ground. As in previous essays, it highlights some unlikely… Read more »

 “This Is the Action of a Very Naughty Young Lady”

Kerry McElroy writes about pioneering women, including Mae West and Bette Davis, in this third series installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein. In the previous two essays, we have looked at how everything from migratory patterns to rape trials impacted women’s economic status in… Read more »

“The Profession is Crowded Now”

Kerry McElroy’s second series installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein At a moment in which the structural inequalities and exploitative power relations of Hollywood are being laid bare on a daily basis, it is more important than ever to trace exactly how economics led… Read more »

Hollywood Was a Matriarchy

Kerry McElroy writes about Female Resistance at the Film Industry’s Dawn in this first series installment of Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo: What Studio-Era Actresses Can Teach Us About Economics and Rebellion, Post-Weinstein We are almost at the year anniversary of the first #MeToo reverberations in Hollywood. All of us, from creative professionals in film industries… Read more »

New Series: Bette, Marilyn, and #MeToo

It’s the summer of 2018, and the initial Weinstein scandal has evolved from shock and rage to a moment of true possibility for lasting change. “Time’s Up” and other women-driven initiatives appear promising and liberating.  Yet underlying the reality of entrenched sexual assault and harassment (the focus of much current public scrutiny) is a question… Read more »