The 1990's were signified by the feminization of the public and private sectors of society and the goal of androgyny in both. The movies Pretty Woman and Mrs. Doubtfire demonstrate this goal.

The decade began after the turbulent attacks on feminism in the late 1980's displayed in such media as the movie Fatal Attraction. Pretty Woman, the first successful movie of the decade shows a return to the older attitudes from The Sound Of Music, but in a modern way. Like The Sound Of Music, Pretty Woman features a lead female character who introduces warmth and compassion back into the lead male's life. In a change from the earlier feminists who wanted men and women to be viewed as biological equals, in the 1990's, feminists argued that men and women have inherent differences. There is a return of an earlier attitude that females have a different internal moral code from males. Vivian, the lead female character in Pretty Woman, feminizes Edward, the lead male, and this makes him a better and more moral person. At the beginning of the movie, he is a polarized male character who is unemotional. Vivian's influence in his life, like Maria's influence into the Captain's life, changes him and allows him to express his emotions. An interesting contrast between these two movies is that Maria was a virginal nun who came into a man's life and Vivian was a prostitute. Regardless of her lifestyle, which is usually considered immoral by the public, her morality is never called into question during the movie. It is the male's morality that is.

Both characters are shown as better people at the end of the movie when they move toward acquiring some of the characteristics of the opposite sex; however, the focus is clearly on the feminization of the male character. Vivian is portrayed as slightly uncouth, fidgety, and unable to handle herself in unfamiliar situations until Edward (and the supporting actor's role of the male hotel manager) gives her the confidence to handle anything. By the end of the movie, she is still definitely a female character, but she has a more professional demeanor and has plans on moving out to finish school and start a job on her own. It is Edward who goes through the most significant changes. He goes from causally dismissing a girlfriend out of his life at the beginning of the film to sincerely apologizing for hurting Vivian's feelings by the end. His arch-male lawyer friend, who he used to be just like, worriedly tells him, "I see some differences in you this week, and I'm wondering if maybe this girl isn't the difference." His friend is worried that Edward is losing his strong masculine traits. Because of Vivian, Edward now acts more on impulse whether by wearing nonprofessional ties to work or taking the day off to have a picnic in the park. He also begins to care more about the feelings of the heads of the companies he was working against, and this changes how he feels about his career. Edward has taken on the traditional female's idea about work: that it should accomplish something that improves the world and should not hurt others. Pretty Woman ends with a happy ending because both characters have become androgynous in such a way that they have assimilated a few characteristics of the opposite gender into their personalities, but not enough to change their roles in the relationship.

Mrs. Doubtfire is a film that shows what can happen if too many characteristics are assigned to the opposite gender, and it is not favorable. If Pretty Woman has a fairy tale theme and ending, it is because everything works out the best way possible as a result of the characters behaving in the most ideal way. Mrs. Doubtfire shows the possible dysfunction when the feminization of the public and private is extreme. In the 1990's, woman had feminized the public domain by demanding access to previously male careers. Miranda, the lead female character in Mrs. Doubtfire demonstrates this. She is the main breadwinner of the family and is the one who can ask her husband to vacate her house when they separate. This film also portrays the femizination of the lead male character Daniel even before he begins dressing up as a woman. He is the sole parent shown interacting with his children throughout the beginning of the film. Daniel also has the higher moral quality that woman are thought to traditionally possess, whether it is in his devotion to his own or everyone else's children. The movie begins with him getting fired from his job as a cartoon voice-over for interjecting his moral views about smoking being bad for children into his dialogue scenes.

Mrs. Doubtfire does take a step toward valuing "feminine" nurturing traits in men, but only the androgyny of Pretty Woman is the ideal. Miranda's masculinity and Daniel's femininity are too extreme to allow their relationship to work. After everything the characters go through in the film, it still cannot end with a resolution of their marriage. They are too polarized to be able to have the happy ending that Pretty Woman had.