Hollywood's Second Sex: The Treatment of Women in the Film Industry, 1900-1999

"Women stars in Hollywood were invariably in two categories," said director Otto Preminger. "One group was of women who were exploited by men, and the other, much smaller group was of women who survived by acting like men."

Beginning with silent film vamp Theda Bara and continuing with icons like Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch, this study of film industry misogyny describes how female stars were maltreated by a sexist studio system--until women like Katharine Hepburn and Bett...