"Makers: Women Who Make America" on PBS (US)

[CallmeChaCha]

Did anybody catch this documentary? It aired on PBS on 26 February. I just barely watched it on the DVR. The documentary is about the women's movement and they have a lot of interviews with different stories from different women (not all famous/well-known). It was very interesting. There were a lot of things I didn't know about, such as sexual harassment in the workplace was the norm not too long ago :o They also have interviews with women who oppose the women's movement and fought to not have the Equal Rights Amendment ratified by the states to amend the constitution.

I kept thinking about how fundies fight so hard to keep women as chattel but then on the other hand all of these women 50 years ago fought so hard to have the right to choose what kind of life they want, whether it be staying at home or working or whatever they wanted.

The documentary can also be watched at makers.com, where they also have more interviews.

[FeministShrew]

I didn't see that, but I love learning about contributions women have made.

My great-aunt is the Sherbert in Sherbert vs. Verner : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherbert_v._Verner

I never knew about this until a couple of years ago. I've never even heard it mentioned by family, including her kids.

[CallmeChaCha]

That's pretty cool that you're related to someone who had a case heard before the supreme court. Do you know why it wasn't discussed in your family? If you don't mind sharing, that is. I'm always interested to hear why certain family stories aren't shared with younger generations. Especially something like this.

[FeministShrew]

I'm not sure why no one mentioned it. Part of it could be because she was the only Seventh Day Adventist in the family. Even her husband & kids were Southern Baptist, along with everyone else on both sides.

It's also possible that they were afraid of losing their jobs because she went up against the textile mills. It's hard to understand these days how much control they had over people's lives even up until the early 80's. Most of the people in her extended family worked in the mills, most of the mills were owned by the same company/family. It's still hard to get anyone to talk about local strikes, and the local PBS station refused to air a documentary about the major strike in 1934.

It could be that they were just embarrassed that she "stepped out of her proper place".

Adele was my grandpa's sister, & I wish now that I had known her better.

[GolightlyGrrl]

I saw this and I thought it was wonderful. It saw how far women have come in this country but still how far women need to go. I liked how it showed how feminism is ever-evolving. It also showed how the US skewed to the right with the likes of Phyllis Schlafly and her "Stop ERA" campaign. And just who were the crazy radicals supporting ERA? Hmm, Betty Ford, Mary Tyler Moore, and George Burns, yes the "Oh, God!" guy.

I do wish "Makers" would have focused a bit more on third-wave feminism-Riot Grrrl, magazines like "Bust" and "Bitch," Lilith Fair, the rise of feminist-related websites, etc.

Still, "Makers" was very informative and entertaining. Try to catch it.

[CallmeChaCha]

I'm not sure why no one mentioned it. Part of it could be because she was the only Seventh Day Adventist in the family. Even her husband & kids were Southern Baptist, along with everyone else on both sides.

It's also possible that they were afraid of losing their jobs because she went up against the textile mills. It's hard to understand these days how much control they had over people's lives even up until the early 80's. Most of the people in her extended family worked in the mills, most of the mills were owned by the same company/family. It's still hard to get anyone to talk about local strikes, and the local PBS station refused to air a documentary about the major strike in 1934.

It could be that they were just embarrassed that she "stepped out of her proper place".

Adele was my grandpa's sister, & I wish now that I had known her better.

I've seen documentaries about other industries that basically ran towns and its citizens, and nobody could really stand up for their rights, including health/safety-related issues. I imagine it was the same with the mills.

I saw this and I thought it was wonderful. It saw how far women have come in this country but still how far women need to go. I liked how it showed how feminism is ever-evolving. It also showed how the US skewed to the right with the likes of Phyllis Schlafly and her "Stop ERA" campaign. And just who were the crazy radicals supporting ERA? Hmm, Betty Ford, Mary Tyler Moore, and George Burns, yes the "Oh, God!" guy.

I do wish "Makers" would have focused a bit more on third-wave feminism-Riot Grrrl, magazines like "Bust" and "Bitch," Lilith Fair, the rise of feminist-related websites, etc.

Still, "Makers" was very informative and entertaining. Try to catch it.

It seemed the documentary was more about the movement in the 60s/70s and they made it seem that after the 90s there were no new women's rights issues or achievements. Or at least not as major as the achievements during the movement's heyday. I haven't seen all of the interview videos, though, so I'm not sure what other women they interviewed and if they address newer issues. Will have to make time to watch all of them one of these days.