Katharine Hepburn is remembered as a feminist icon because of her liberal views on gender equality and the strong roles she played in movies. However, her personal ideology was rarely reflected in the Golden Era movies she made. If you actually watch her movies from the 1930s to the ‘50s, you’ll find that most of the stories don’t promote feminist messages. In fact, while she often played very strong women, most of Hepburn’s characters show us through their experiences that being an independent career woman is no substitute for being traditionally feminine.
Few of her films depict this message more clearly than her movies with Spencer Tracy. These two great actors, both Academy Award winners, made nine movies together over the course of 25 years. In these films, they usually played characters who were married or who planned to get married.
