The feminist movement of the 1970's had brought attention to the problems women encounter trying to gain equality in the work force; however, the early 1980's also brought a slight backlash against the women's movement as a more conservative ideology influenced the nation. Even though by 1982, women comprised over forty-two percent of the workforce, economic stress and the high unemployment of the late 1970's had influenced a return to the idealization of traditional roles for men and women. People believed that women should not take jobs away from unemployed men who needed to support their families more. Tootsie includes a brief depiction of this idea by having the lead male character Michael, an out-of-work actor, get accepted for the job for which his girlfriend and many other women applied.

All of the women applying for the acting role could not match the standard required for the job, but it was a female that was supposed to fit the part. Michael got the acting job while impersonating a female instead of his girlfriend or all of the other women because he could show the anger and assertiveness the director wanted. The acting role was to create a new equal kind of woman who would assert herself to her male coworkers. Society acknowledged that women have been fighting to been seen as equals, but Tootsie questioned women's ability to live up to that equality. Society, cast as the director of the soap opera portrayed in the film, gave women the opportunity to prove themselves as forceful and assertive, but it was a only a male that could fulfill the role.

Along with the desire for work equality, women were fighting for the end of sexual objectification. However, along with the idea that only the male impersonating a female could become successful in a career, is that only the male could stand up for the sexual harassment of women in the workplace. Michael, while dressed up as a female, is the only "woman" on the soap opera's set who is able to assert herself against the unwanted sexual treatment from her boss and male coworkers, both inside of the soap opera role and on the set of the show. Both on camera and off, the character's entire purpose throughout the film is to verbalize what women have been dealing with for years, from condescending labels such as tootsie or honey, to expecting to silently accept sexual advances at work. Opinions in society towards the plight of women in the work force had changed enough for this film to portray that it is wrong for an aggressive male coworker to make unwanted sexual advances on his female costars, and this character's habit of forcing his sexuality on women is clearly established as negative. Nevertheless, the women in the film are still shown as not being able to do anything about it themselves. It is only Michael who could fight back and essentially stand up for women's rights. It was a male that had to express the voice of women. This film is implying that while the sexual objectification of women is wrong, it is in men's control to continue or halt it.

Another factor in men's control is the idea of masculine guilt over the treatment of women. There is acknowledgment and guilt about the inequality of labor and sexual objectification. Michael's self-journey in the film ends with him expressing that he is a better man through learning what life is like as a woman and the struggles women face. Women could not accomplish this attitude change by themselves; it was in the male's control to discover this.

In the early 1980's, men had learned how to empathize with women and even identify with their feminine side, but they still had to "wear the pants" in the relationship as Michael eludes to at the end of the film. While the male lead spent the majority of the film dressed up as a women, there is no question in his masculinity or the separation back to male and female roles at the end of the film. This character allowed the male public to vicariously live through what life in the work force is life for women, but its purpose was to bring about understanding and sympathy, not a transformation in gender roles.