She\'s Beautiful When She\'s Angry PDF

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She's Beautiful When She's Angry Response essay; WGS 210; Rachael Smith...

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FEMALE UNITY, FEMALE ANGER: AN ESSAY ON SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY ALAN BELMONT WGS 210_802 JANUARY 18, 2019

Mary Dore’s 2014 historical documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry retells the story of the origins of feminism through primary source interviews with women who experienced the fight for equal rights. For most of the documentary, women who were a part of organizations such as the Women’s Liberation Front retell what struggles they dealt with before any changes were made. Many of these women come from all different walks of life, and several women of color and LGBT women are included. A lot of focus in this film centers around organizations leading to change as well as what causes people to organize for change. Even through revolt and controversy, anger and radicalism, organization, and specific goals lead to change on a national level. Despite backlash from the government, men, and even other women, the Women’s Liberation Front fought for their rights regardless of what they faced. The main reason for creating an organization was focused around anger towards the injustices women constantly faced. Though the main changes women wanted at first were wqual opportunities such as job postings in the newspaper, equal pay, and child care. The movement developed over time to include multiple kinds of women who were just as angry about issues that weren't being addressed at all. One of the most notable was the way lesbian women inserted themselves into the Women’s Liberation Front. When lesbian women first asked for recognition, many heterosexual women disagreed, claiming that adding such a divisive issue as lesbian women and gay rights would cause the momentum of the movement to fall apart. Even Betty Friedan, the author of The Feminine Mystique believed there was no way women could be taken seriously by the public if they attempted to fight for gay rights at that time. However, instead of remaining silenced, lesbian women made a plan. Labeled as “the Lavender Menace,” a group of lesbians attended a congress meeting dressed as audience members. They staged a woman behind the

curtains who could work the lights, and when the lights went out, women removed their blouses and showed off purple shirts that said “Lavender Menace.” They began shouting at the audience members, demanding to be heard, seen, and a part of the women’s movement. This anger they portrayed is what allowed them to become a part of the issues women addressed in marches, literature, and any other plans women’s organizations created. Not only did anger progress this movement, but being radical enough to address issues unspoken of by the public gave women a platform for all to hear. By addressing issues of sex, abortion, and child care, women gained attention from many who would have thought women faced no issues at all. When women gathered to speak about the oppression they faced, many of them discovered that small concerns they faced were experienced by more than just themselves. Issues such as orgasms, illegal abortions, and a lack of education on the female body were explored and attempted to be solved by more women than ever. Without mentioning these seemingly “radical” issues, women today might still not have access to information the way men always have had. A huge contribution to the success of women’s rights is the idea of organized protests, meetings, and specific goals. Without a large amount of women all working towards one common goal, the Women’s Liberation Front wouldn't have gotten very far. Because multiple women were brave enough to share their once radical ideas with the public, a larger group was able to form, allowing their thoughts to seem more real to those who didn’t understand them. One example of this shown in the film is the book Our Bodies Our Selves: A Course By and For Women. This book became a written conglomerate of anecdotes, information, and new ideas organized and composed entirely by women. By multiple women coming together and telling each other their struggles and perspectives on challenges they’d faced, they were inspired to create a collection of this information. Not only was this information otherwise inaccessible, but

none of this knowledge had ever been recounted from the female perspective. Because this information was crucial to understanding the female experience, many women bought not only the first copy but all the new editions thereafter. This novel was life-changing and inspiring to all women who read it, and without organization and discussion of these ideas, it may never have come to fruition. Literature was a huge part of the success of the women’s movement, but wihtout the constant presence of angry women through protesting, their ideas would have never been heard. Despite a popular belief that protests do nothing, they are a crucial way for anyone to have their ideas heard by anyone around them. Signs and chants draw attention from everywhere, and the women who spent all day outside spreading their message are the ones who started the movement and pushed it from a private matter to a public one. The images this film shows of protests are more than enough evidence of this. Overall, the film She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry is an informative, eye-opening documentary about the personal struggles all women went through to create the progress society views as normal today. This documentary will easily evoke emotion in anyone who claims to be a feminist in today’s age. Not only does it include information about endeavors women used to face daily, but it shows just how far society has come, as well as how much further it needs to progress. Dore’s directing of this film shows a well thought-out progression from beginning to end, having each story add on a crucial detail to this movement many may have not known about. Her film educates, inspires, and gives a great example of how people today can make a successful change in the minds of many through organization, goals, and most importantly, anger....