General and Miscellaneous
Gender and Biology / Gender and Society
Lesbians/Transgendered Individuals: SEE Gay/Lesbian/Transgender Studies
Reproductive Rights / Parenting
Women and the Media / Gender and Language
Women's Bodies / Body Image / Gender Identity
The Women's Movement / Suffrage / Women and Politics
Women and Violence / Pornography
Women and the Workplace / Economic Condition of Women
Women of Color/Immigrant Women (US)
Women of the Third World / Asia / Europe / Immigrant Women
Women in the Arts and Sciences
Women in Sports
Men's Studies
Sound Recordings

Gay/Lesbian/Transgender Studies
International Child Welfare Issues
Literature and Theater
Videographies on various ethnic groups and nationalities
Women Directors

Women in Cinema: A Reference Guide
South Asian Women (SAWNET) Movie Page
Films and Documents About Women in Southeast Asia (via International Gender Studies homepage, UC Berkeley)

General / Miscellaneous

All Different, All Equal. (Life, Part 11)
Looks at progress in achieving greater equality for women -- five years after the Beijing Conference on Women where government delegations pledged themselves to tackle increasing violence against women. Examines gains in women's rights globally with visits to Northern Ireland, Nigeria, Fiji, New Zealand, Brazil and other nations focusing on crimes against women and achievements by women towards equality. c2000. 24 min. Video/C 7771

Amy!
Amy Johnson was the first woman to fly solo from Great Britain to Australia. Mulvey and Wollen's experimental documentary combines newsreel footage of the aviator's arrival, dramatic recreations of events from her life and contemporary discussions by feminist groups on the subject of heroism in this most unconventional biopic. A film by Laura Mulvey & Peter Wollen. 1980. 30 min. DVD 7905

Women Make Movies catalog description

Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley, the greatest woman rifle shot the world has ever known thrilled audiences of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show with her daring shooting feats. A champion in a man's sport, over time she became an American legend forever changing ideas about the abilities of women. Includes archival images and commentary by biographers and historians. 2006. 60 min. DVD 5616

Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn
Using film clips and narration, Annie Sprinkle presents a 25 year retrospective of her career as a pornographic film star. Features rare '70s hippie porn, early fetish films, feminist porn, art porn, transsexual docu-porn, classic XXX and more. Linda Williams, film scholar at UC Berkeley, shares her wisdom on a separate track. This film includes over 75 other XXX stars. Directed by Annie Sprinkle and Scarlot Harlot. 69 min. DVD 8742

[Campion, Jane] The Films of Jane Campion.
Peel concerns a family outing in Australia which results in an intrigue of awesome belligerence. Passionless Moments is a series of ten short, whimsical films portraying the inner world of ordinary people. A Girl's Own Story concerns girlhood, Beatlemania, and growing up in the sixties. c1995. 49 min. Video/C 3343

Women Make Movies catalog description

A Century of Quilts: America in Cloth.
Celebrates the powerful stories behind quilt-making from three perspectives: records of history, symbols of family/community, and works of art. Features quilts from major American quilt shows in Paducah, Kentucky, and Houston. Produced, written and directed by Laurie A. Gorman. 2001. 77 min. DVD 5615

Campus Culture Wars: Five Stories About PC.
University of Pennsylvania: racially insensitive language, Harvard University: gay rights, Stanford University: multicultural ideals, Pennsylvania State: sexual harassment, University of Washington: radical feminism. c1993. 86 min. Video/C 3328

Concerning Women.
In this film four women who made significant contributions to the education of the deaf are discussed: Alice Cogswell, Julia Brace, Eliza Boardman Clerc, and Sophia Fowler Gallaudet. c1993. 19 min. Video/C 3138

Crisis of Perfect Propriety.
Documents the history of women in America during three difficult decades; the carefree life in the 20's; the difficult Depression years; full employment during World War II; and the sudden loss of jobs when veterans returned home. 1976. 30 min. Video/C 72

Daughter Rite.
An experimental film that explores the relationships between mothers and their adult daughters. This classic illustrates the missing link between the 'direct cinema' documentaries and the later hybrids that acknowledged truth couldn't always be found in front of a camera lens. Scandalous in its day for bending the rules of representation to enlighten its audience. Written, directed & edited by Michelle Citron. 1979. 53 min. DVD 8456; vhs Video/C 3267

Women Make Movies catalog description

Citron, Michelle. "Fleeing from Documentary: Autobiographical Film/Video and the "Ethics of Responsibility." In: Feminism and documentary / Diane Waldman and Janet Walker, editors. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c1999. (Main Stack PN1995.9.W6.F447 1999; Moffitt PN1995.9.W6.F447 1999)
Williams, Linda and Rich, Ruby. "The Right of Re-Vision: Michelle Citron's Daughter Rite." In: Movies and methods : an anthology / edited by Bill Nichols. Berkeley : University of California Press, c1976 (Main Stack PN1994.M71 Library has: v.1-2 (1976-1985))

Dear Lisa: A Letter to My Sister.
A comprehensive and multicultural look at women's hopes and dreams and the realities of being female in the 1990's. A film by J Clements. 45 min.Video/C 3116

Description from New Day Films catalog

Desire
Nearly a decade in the making, this refreshingly honest film documents the challenges and desires of a group of young women in New Orleans by letting them film their own stories. As this diverse group of young women -- two teenagers from the Desire housing projects, a single mother from the working-class suburb of Belle Chase across the river, and two girls from the most prestigious private high school in New Orleans -- make short films about their own desires, this provocative film records the intimate dramas of their changing lives. Produced and directed by Julie Gustafson. 2005 84 min. DVD 7976

Description from Women Make Movies catalog

Evening the Odds: Is Title IX Working?
In 1972 Title IX was established, a civil rights act that prohibits gender discrimination at any school that receives federal funds. In this program, Elizabeth Brackett of WTTS in Chicago, goes to Indian University -- alma mater of Olympic diving medalists Lesley Bush and Cynthia Potter -- in an investigation of higher education's Title IX track record in the area of sports. Although Indiana University is working diligently to meet Title IX conditions by creating new athletics programs and spreading out scholarship dollars, only seven Division 1 schools have met the Title IX standards for gender equity. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1999. 12 min. Video/C 6895

Female Misbehavior.
Dr. Paglia (c1992) -- Annie (c1989) -- Bondage (c1983/84) -- Max (c1992) -- Didn't do it for love (c1997, 81 min.) One feature length and four short films exploring the outer limits of female sexuality and behaviour. Dr. Pagilia features a confrontational interview with the author of 'Sexual Personae' Camille Paglia. Annie is an inside look at Annie Sprinkle, porn star, performance artist and sexual diva. Bondage centers on an S & M practitioner, Carol, and her use of pain as pleasure. Max is the story of a transexual's journey from female to male. The feature length film Didn't do it for love explores the fascinating life of Eva Norvind, the blond Norwegian bombshell who was Mexico's Marilyn Monroe in the 1960's and New York's leading dominatrix in the 1980s. Directed by Monika Treut. 160 min. DVD 6793
5 Girls
Follows five young teenage girls going to schools in Chicago. Looks at their family life, their behavior at home and school, and their friendships and other relationships. 2001. 113 min. Video/C 8411

The Flapper Story.
Offers a lively mixture of contemporary interviews and archival film footage in a thoughtful examination of the social phenomenon of the 'flapper,' the provacative 'New Woman'of America's Roaring '20s. Producer/director/screenwriter, Lauren Lazin. Dist. Cinema Guild. 1985. 29 min. Video/C 2973

Flappers: The Birth of the 20th-Century Woman
Using vibrant archival film clips and interviews with women who came of age during the Roaring 20s in Britain, this program chronicles the emergence of the modern woman in the aftermath of World War I. Higher education for women, the entry of women into politics and the professions, women's suffrage, new attitudes toward sexuality, and other topics are addressed within the historical context of the early 1900s. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1999. 53 min. Video/C 8712 min. Video/C 9319

Gender and Communication: Male-Female Differences in Language and Nonverbal Behavior
Explores male-female differences in communication and the impact that gender has on both verbal messages including speech, language, and vocabulary, as well as on nonverbal channels of communication such as touch, movement, and gesture. c2001. 42 min. DVD 8343; vhs Video/C 9099

Berkeley Media LLC catalog description

Girl Hood
Shanae was ten when she was gang-raped; she responded by drinking and drugging, and by age 12 had graduated to murder. Megan ran way from ten different foster homes before being arrested on assault charges. Both came to the Waxter Juvenile Facility in Maryland. Follow these two girls for three years, as they try to make a life for themselves both inside and outside of Baltimore's juvenile justice system. Originally produced in 2003. 82 min. DVD 5282

Girls Like Us.
This documentary explores female teenage experiences of sexuality and pregnancy. An ethnically diverse group of four working class girls strut, flirt and testify about their lives. Filmed in South Philadelphia over a period of four years and following its protaganists from age 14 to 18, it brings into sharp relief the conflicts of growing up female, exposing the impact of class, sexism and violence on the dreams and expectations of teenage girls. Producers/directors, Jane C. Wagner, Tina DiFeliciantonio. 1997. 60 min. DVD 5894; also vhs Video/C 5254

Women Make Movies catalog description

James, Caryn. "P.O.V.: Girls Like Us." (television program reviews) New York Times v146 (Tue, July 22, 1997):B2(N), C14(L), col 1, 11 col in.
Sikes, Gini. "The Dreams of Teen-age Girls and How They Fall Apart." (PBS to show documentary 'Girls Like Us,' which explores the impact of sex roles, class and violence) New York Times v146, sec2 (Sun, July 20, 1997):H24(N), H24(L), col 1, 24 col in.

Goddess Remembered.
Examines 35,000 years of "pre-history" and the goddess-worshipping religions. c1990. 55 min. Video/C 2863

Donaldson, E. Lisbeth. "Imaging women's spirituality." Comparative Education Review v40, n2 (May, 1996):194 (11 pages).

The Gods of our Fathers(Human Race; 3).
Film explores if human nature is unchanging and if there is anything natural or innate about male domination. The evolution of patriarchy as one effective way of organizing mass societies is examined from evidence found in ancient Egyptian villages along the Nile. It postulates that as the world changes, there will be a need to find alternatives to patriarchy. c1994. 52 min. Video/C 4385

Grey Gardens (1976)
Grey Gardens captures the haunting relationship between Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Little Edie. These two endearing recluses happen to be aunt and first cousin to Jackie Onassis. In this biographical film they feed cats and racoons while they rehash the past behind the walls of the East Hampton mansion. 94 min. DVD 799; tape Video/C 2478
Information about this film from the Internet Movie Database

Maslin, Janet "Grey Gardens." (movie review)_(movie reviews) The New York Times April 17, 1998 v147 pB18(N) pE18(L) col 1 (8 col in)

Growing Up Female.
A cross-section of America's women talk about their socialization. Producers, directors, writers and editors, Julia Reichert, James Klein. 1971. 50 min. Video/C 2927

Description from New Day Films catalog

Growing Up With the Self Image of American Girls.
Interviews with American girls ages 8 to 16 about their developing perceptions of the "ideal" American woman and their own self-perceptions and personal goals. 1998. 12 min. Video/C 4406

Grrlyshow
A documentary about girl-zines and the small magazines (known as zines) created primarily by young women and girls, who share a strong feminist perspective. Explores the culture of zines and this new generation of young women who are taking control of a corner of the media pie by self-publishing their own magazines. Directed by Kara Herold. c2001. 18 min. Video/C MM1183

Women Make Movies catalog description

Hearts and Hands.
Diaries, letters, photographs, and quilts are pieced together to tell a story of nineteenth century women from New England, the South, the Midwest, and the West. c1987. 64 min. Video/C 1756

Description from New Day Films catalog

Cohen, Martha J. "Hearts and Hands: A Social History of Nineteenth-Century Women and Quilts." (movie reviews) Library Journal v114, n2 (Feb 1, 1989):92
Hewitt, Nancy A. "Hearts and Hands." (movie reviews)Journal of American History v76, n3 (Dec, 1989):1008 (2 pages).
Yocom, Margaret Rose. "Hearts and Hands." (audio-visual reviews) Journal of American Folklore v103, n407 (Jan-March, 1990):86 (4 pages).

I Was a teenage Feminist: A Documentary About Redefining the F-word
Armed with a video camera and an irreverent sense of humor, Therese probes diverse sources including Gloria Steinem, rowdy frat boys, a Cosmo-reading opera singer and even her own mother, to find out whether feminism can still be a source of personal and political power. Written and directed by Therese Shechter. 2004. 62 min. DVD 7910

Women Make Movies catalog description

The Impossible Takes a Little Longer.
Presents the stories of four highly accomplished, seriously disabled women whose sense of optimism, determination, self-acceptance, and self-worth have helped them cope with their handicaps. Also shows some of the advanced-technology devices that can assist disabled people. 1988. 46 min. Video/C MM900

The Irving Klaw Classics
Featuring Bettie Page. In the 1950s Irving Klaw was known as the King of Pin Ups, famous for his photos of beautiful girls in lingerie and high heels. From 1951-1956 he produced over a hundred short fetish, wrestling and dance films featuring Bettie Page and other glamour girls of the time. Volume 1 is dedicated to Klaw's most popular model, Bettie Page, who with her distinctive hair-cut and girlish looks, became a popular monument of femininity. 60 min. DVD 7524

It's a Girl's World: A Documentary About Social Bullying
captured on camera shows a picture of how these girls use their closest friendships to hurt each other - with shunning, whispering and mean looks - to win social power in the group. Also looks at the tragic story of a 14-year-old girl who killed herself after enduring months of rumours and verbal threats. Shatters the myth that social bullying among girls is an acceptable part of growing up. Directed and written by Lynn Glazier. Dist.: National Film Board of Canada. c2004. 149 min. DVD 4574

Kypseli--Women and Men Apart: A Divided Reality
A film essay on the peasant society of Kipseli, a small isolated Greek village on the island of Thera. Depicts how the people of Kipseli divide time, space, material possessions, and activities according to an underlying pattern based on the separation of the sexes, and shows how this division determines the village social structure. 1973. 38 min. Video/C 7648

Live Nude Girls Unite!
This documentary follows Julia Query, a peepshow stripper, on her journey to help organize the only strippers union in the United States. In need of money, Julia became a stripper in San Francisco but after discovering that the strippers were being covertly videotaped for amateur porn, Julia and her colleagues contacted the Service Employees Internation Union. The Theater responded by hiring an anti-union law firm. Written and directed by Julia Query, Vicky Funari, 2000. 70 min. Video/C 7452

Description from First/Run Icarus Films catalog

Love
As it turns out, Bette Davis and the Bond girls have a lot in common. A wealth of film clips, from chaste black-and-white Hollywood classics to more robust fare from the '60s and '70s, show women's love, lust, longing and revenge. Without commentary or condescension, the film remakes the age-old story of a boy and girl in love with exhilaration and irony. A film by Tracey Moffatt. 2003. 21 min. Video/C MM977

Women Make Movies catalog description

Love Meetings. (Comizi d'Amore)
Documentary featuring director Pasolini asking questions about sex, love, and morality of a variety of people all over Italy. Features interviews with psychologist Cesare Musatti and author Alberto Moravia. A film by Pier Paulo Pasolini. c1990. 90 min. Video/C 4744

"Martial Races" and "Ladies' Drinks": How Racialized Gender Has Militarized the World
A lecture by Cynthia Enloe, author and nationally recognized scholar of militarism, state policies, politics and their impacts on the lives of people throughout the world. [Berkeley, CA] : Center for Race and Gender. Lecture, April 29, 2002. 89 min. Video/C 8867

Mary Silliman's War
Based on the memoir and letters of Mary Silliman, this film depicts the struggle during the American Revolutionary War, of Fairfield, Conn., a town deeply and bitterly divided over independence. After the kidnapping and imprisonment of her husband by the British, Mary Silliman managed to secure her husband's freedom while still handling domestic affairs and coping with the war. Based on The way of duty by Joy Day Buel and Richard Buel, Jr. (Main Stack CT275.F5586.B83 1984; Moffitt CT275.F5586.B83 1984) 1993. 94 min. Video/C MM117

Me & The Mosque
In North America, a large number of converts to Islam are women. Many are drawn to the religion because of its emphasis on social justice and spiritual equality between the sexes. Ironically many mosques force women to pray behind barriers away from the men, and some mosques do not even permit women to enter the building. In this documentary journalist and filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz visits mosques throughout Canada and talks to scholars, colleagues, friends and neighbours about equal access for women. Written and directed by Zarqa Nawaz. Dist.: National Film Board of Canada. 2005. 52 min. Video/C MM971

Monuments Are for Men, Waffles are for Women: Exploring Gender Permanence & Impermanence
The unwritten rules governing the traditional activities of American men and women are sharply but subtly defined. A class at Ohio University provides discussion about the impermanence of work done by women and the permanence of work done by men as they explore the concept of symbolic gender construction. The film examines numerous and diverse instances of this often unrecognized division and examines their causes and social consequences. 2000. 37 min. Video/C 7590

Mouth Piece
A monologue performed by Joanna Frueh concerning feminist views, male and female relationships and social perceptions of women. Contents: Excerpts from: Femininity / Susan Brownmiller -- Great mother / Erich Neumann -- Feminist practice & poststructuralist theory / Chris Weedon -- Joy's way / W. Brugh Joy -- State of the art / Arthur C. Danto -- New French feminisms / Elaine Marks, Isabelle de Courtivron -- Face value / Robin Tolmach Lakoff, Raquel L. Scherr. 1992. 56 min. Video/C 5252

100% Woman.
A post-operative transsexual, Michelle Dumaresq, has provoked outrage by entering the sport of women's mountain bike racing. The program explores complex issues of gender identity surrounding the controversy and manifested in Dumaresq's personal and professional relationships. Includes commentary from her parents and interviews with Michelle, friends, and rival cyclists. Director, Karen Duthie. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2004. 60 min. DVD 4487

Phantom of the Operator.
This delightful found-footage film reveals a little-known chapter in labor history: the story of female telephone operators' central place in the development of global communications. Presents more than one hundred clips from rarely seen industrial, advertising and scientific management films produced in North America between 1903 and 1989 by Bell and Western Electric, transformed into a dreamlike montage documentary. As the first agents of globalization, this invisible army of women offered a way for companies to feminize and glamorize what was a highly stressful, underpaid and difficult job. Not merely 'Voices with a Smile,' telephone operators were test pilots for new management systems, and the face of shrewd public relations campaigns. As the work of operators has been eclipsed by the advent of automated systems, this artful piece of labor history also offers an insightful comment on women's work, industrialization and communications technology. A film by Caroline Martel. c2004. 66 min. DVD 4512

Description from Woman Make Movies catalog

The Powder Room.
This documentary, in which women reveal intimacies in the privacy of each other's company, takes the viewer to high school bathrooms, senior centers, powder rooms, Newfoundland dance halls, New York nightclubs, a sauna in Copenhagen, a Casablanca hammam and country-and-western bars in Texas. In each location women confess their joys, their frustrations and their pain about love, sex, relationships with men and friendships with each other. Director, Ann Kennard. Dist.: National Film Board of Canada. 1996. Video/C 4991

"Bathroom confidential." (Ann Kennard's documentary film 'The Powder Room' makes use of conversations recorded in women's washrooms)(Brief Article) Maclean's v110, n9 (March 3, 1997):57 (1 pages).

Power Plays.
Addresses the subject of sexual harassment of women on campus. Video/C 2089

Prejudice (Social Psychology)
Prejudiced and biased attitudes between gender, racial, and economic groups are shown in examples and discussed. 1989. 30 min. Video/C 8357

Quilts in Women's Lives.
Seven contemporary quiltmakers, among them a California Mennonite, a Black Mississippian, and a Bulgarian immigrant talk about their art, its importance in their lives, and how it is influenced by their daily experiences. A film by Pat Ferrero. 28 min. Video/C 4126

View this video online (via folkstreams.net)

Kaplan, Anne R. "Quilts in Women's Lives: Six Portraits." (video recording reviews) Oral History Review v18, n1 (Spring, 1990):122 (3 pages)

Race, Gender & the "War on Terrorism"
Contents: Terror, structural adjustments and the warfare system / Ruth Wilson Gilmore -- Women, war and racism / Linda Burnham -- Selective images: the selling of the war on terrorism / Hatem Bazian. A panel featuring UC Berkeley professor and prison activist Ruthie Gilmore speaking about terror, structural adjustments and the warfare state; Women of Color Resource Center executive director Linda Burnham talking about women, war and racism and Al-Qalam Institute director Hatem Bazian discussing the selling of the war on terrorism [Berkeley, CA] : Center for Race and Gender. Lecture, April 1, 2002. 89 min. Video/C 8867

Revelations: Exposing the Radical Right
Presents a feminist perspective on the convergence of right-wing political, religious and economic forces in the United States from the 1970s to the present. Looks at political strategists such as Richard Viguerie, Paul Weyrich, Phyllis Schlafly and Ralph Reed, conservative funders Joseph Coors and Richard Mellon Scaife, and religious leaders like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson and Bill McCartney. [2000?] 18 min. Video/C 8339

Sex in a Cold Climate
Presents a disturbing portrait of Magdalen asylums, run by unfeeling and sometimes sadistic Catholic nuns in Ireland for over a hundred years. The purpose of the asylums, named after the repentant biblical prostitute Mary Magdalene, was to correct the supposed sexual deviance of young women. The criteria of deviance was so broad some Magdalenes didn't know why they had been put away. The film follows the stories of four women who were detained in Magdalen asylums between the 1940s and the 1960s. Dist. Cinema Guild. c1997. 50 min. Video/C 9741

She Even Chewed Tobacco: She Drank, She Swore, She Even Courted Girls: Passing Women in 19th Century America
Uses archival black and white photographs and original artwork with voiceover narrative to illustrate the history of women who "passed" as men in mid-to-late 19th and early 20th century America, not always for reasons of sexual orientation, but for economic or social status enhancement. 1983. 40 min. Video/C 8132

Description from Woman Make Movies catalog

She's Beautiful When She's Angry.
A guerrilla theater piece on the role of women, performed at an abortion rally in New York City in 1969. In the skit a beauty contestant is pressured to fulfill certain roles in order to be the "ideal woman." The women who perform also discuss their personal lives and how their struggle as women is expressed in the skit. Orginally produced in 1969. 17 min. Video/C MM392

She's Nobody's Baby: American Women in the 20th Century.
Traces conflicting advice given to the American woman from generation to generation by the clergy, government, doctors, media, and society. c1981. 55 min. Video/C 428

Shulie
Directed by Elisabeth Subrin. A re-presentation of a 1967 documentary on the author of the groundbreaking feminist text The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for the Feminist Revolution, Shulamith Firestone. The filmmaker questions the boundaries of fiction and documentary. She explores the conditions of a woman's representation and comments on the impact of feminism today. 1997. 37 min. Video/C 8610

Sink or Swim.
A film by Su Friedrich. A compelling account of the immutable, highly charged relationship between a father and daughter. A young girl narrates twenty-six short stories which recount memories of a father she both fears and admires. 1990. 48 min. Video/C 4905

Women Make Movies catalog description

Sins of our Mothers: The Story of Emeline.
Covers the story of Emeline Gurney of Fayette Maine through the use of hearsay, legend, etc. to explore the strengths and weaknesses of a community. 1988. 58 min. Video/C 1535

Sisters 'n Brothers
a hard-hitting feminist look at a revolution-gone-awry among people which explodes and explores current dialogues on gender wars. 1994. 4 min. Video/C 4175

Center for Asian American Media catalog description

Slippery Blisses
In Slippery Blisses we meet ordinary people who recall their best and worst kisses, and experts who discuss the science of kisses - and the human need for this potent cocktail of touch, smell, taste and emotion. Slippery Blisses features a quirky cast - a behaviour expert who claims we are addicted to kissing, a sex therapist who views kissing as the key to better sex and a professor who teaches wildly popular seminars to university students on how to kiss. Blending science, history and sensuality, this tongue-in-cheek documentary travels across North America and visits Paris, the world's most romantic city, revealing that there's nothing simple about a simple kiss. 2000. 42 min. Video/C MM546

Songs of Sappho.
Andrea Goodman as Sappho, with the Chorus of the New York Greek Drama Co. In Ancient Greek with English subtitles. 1982. 25 min. Video/C 2193

Sorority.
Program about the sorority social life and rites and pressure of sorority members to conform. Women in the documentary are students and alumnae of U.C. Berkeley. 1979. 50 min. Video/C 661

Succeeding Generations.
Presents the history of women in America. This program deals in detail with the Victorian ideal of sheltered life for women, the development of the women's suffrage movement, and the ratification of the 19th Amendment. 1976. 30 min. Video/C 71

Sunset Story
Sunset Story is a funny and intimate documentary that will make you think differently about growing old. It tells the story of Irja (81) and Lucille (95), two friends at a rest home for retired radicals. As they attend demonstrations, register their fellow residents to vote and debate everything under the sun, Irja and Lucille's verve and humor delight us. Sunset Story doesn't shy away from the sadness of old age; it reveals two elderly women's lives in an unusually authentic and surprisingly moving way. Director, Laura Gabbert. 2003. 75 min. DVD 4905

Take Away the Apple.
Explores women's functions throughout history. Examines women's role in marriage and motherhood, as well as their image in gynocratic societies and in cultures that worship women deities. 1977. 30 min. Video/C 70

The Tale of Genji.
One of the world literature's earliest novels, antedating Don Quijote by 600 years. Its author, Murasaki Shikibu, is one of the world's first woman novelists. Plot centers on the romantic relationahips of the noble hero, Genji- through the panels of a series of illustrated handscrolls dating from the early 12th century. A formative work of Japansese culture and one of the milestone's of world literature. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1993. 60 min. Video/C 3759

Thriller.
A film by Sally Potter. This rewriting of Puccini's opera, La Boheme, has become a classic in feminist film theory. A model for the deconstruction of the Hollywood Film, Thriller turns the conventional role of women as romantic victims in fiction on its head. Mimi, the seamstress heroine of the opera who must die before the curtain goes down, decides to investigate the reasons for her death. In doing so, she explores the dichotomy which separates her from the opera's other female character, the "bad girl" Musetta. 1979. 34 min. Video/C 5363

Women Make Movies catalog description

True-hearted Vixens.
Follows the fortunes of two women and the teams they play for during a six-game exhibition tour of a start-up Women's Professional Football League in the United States. With their dreams tied to the league's success, the women grapple with powerful social stereotypes, the league's business practices and their own changing expectations of success. c2000. 58 min. Video/C MM694

28 Women: A Chance for Independence
28 single mothers, who decided to enter a woman's shelter in Phoenix, share their experiences in this documentary. Their life experiences are examined as these women struggle to achieve self-sufficiency in a safe environment and describe their individual pursuits to construct a stable foundation for an independent family life. 2005. 17 min. DVD 4326

Up against the Wall Miss America.
A documentary about the disruption of the Miss America pageant of 1968. Guerrilla theater, protest songs, and interviews stress the misuse of women as mindless sexual objects. Footage includes attorney/activist Flo Kennedy. Originally produced in 1968. 6 min. Video/C MM391

Venus and Mars.(Way We Live: Introduction to Sociology ; 10)
Are men and women really that different? Society tends to emphasize differences more than similarities. This often leads to competition, and in some cases, inequality. Gender issues and stratification, the gender divide in the workplace, the impact of Title Seven, and the women's movement are explored in this lesson. As illustrated in the example of a female football team, it can take a lot of determination to defy the agents of socialization and overcome gender basis. 2005. 27 min. DVD 4806

Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained.
A film by Martha Rosler. This chilling tape probes the objectification of women in a technological society. At its core is a long, continuous shot that reveals the part-by-part measurement and evaluation of a woman by a white-coated male examiner and a chorus of three women assistants. The filmmaker asks: How do we come to see ourselves as objects? How do fragmentation and comparison assist in social control? The final sequences of this film which explores the socially dictated feminine self-image, presents re-framed government photos of women being measured, accompanied by a voiceover litany of "crimes against women." 1975. 40 min. Video/C 5147

Voices From Inside
'Voices from Inside' follows German-born theater artist Karina Epperlein into a federal women's prison where she began teaching weekly classes as a volunteer in 1992. Her racially mixed group of women prisoners becomes a circle of trust and healing. Epperlein also talks to the children of the women. 1996. 60 min. Video/C 5226

The Way Home.
Over the course of eight months, 64 women representing a cross-section of cultures in America, came together to share their experiences of oppression through the lens of race. Separated into eight ethnic councils, Indigenous, African-American, Arab, Asian, European-American, Jewish, Latina, and Multiracial, the women explore their stories of identity, oppression, and resistance. 1998. 92 min. Video/C 7053

Wedding Advice: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
Partners for 18 years and feeling external pressure to wed, filmmakers Karen and Fred ask others, "Is there any reason why the two of us should wed?" Interviewees include people who are married, living together in committed relationships, divorced, single, heterosexual, bisexual, and gay individuals, all representing diverse relationships to and perspectives on marriage. Produced, directed and filmed by Karen Sosnoski and Fred Zeytoonjian, Jr. c2002. 57 min. Video/C 9649

Windows on Women.
Using clips from PBS programs over the past ten years, host Ruby Dee discusses the struggle of women breaking into the world of men. c1985. 58 min. Video/C 1243

Without You I'm Nothing.
Adaptation of Sandra Bernhard's one-woman off-Broadway show, a biting, dramatic, comedy cabaret showcase, in which she takes on a number of roles in order to examine American pop culture. 1990. 90 min. Video/C 9402

The Woman's Film
Candid interviews with American women who describe their preconceptions about marriage contrasted with the realities of marriage, their husband's expectations concerning their roles as wives, and experiences of child rearing and employment inside and outside the home. Newsreel, 1971. 41 min. Video/C 5862

Women as Citizens: Vital Voices through the Century
Features speeches by Nancy Cott, Alice Kessler-Harris, and Ruth Simmons on the history of American women in civic life in the 20th century. Focuses on three themes: women as volunteers and reformers, women's struggle for rights, and women in public/civic life. Includes remarks by President Clinton, and comments and questions from the audience. Tape of live broadcast of the sixth Millennium Evening from the White House East Room on Mar. 16, 1999. 120 min. Video/C 9697

Women in American Life.
An overview of women's roles in the development of the United States from the Civil War through the 1950's. 1984. 64 min. ea. Video/C 145:1-4

Women's Voices: The Gender Gap Movie.
Features interviews with fifteen women of various ages and backgrounds focusing on major gender gap issues. c1984. 16 min. Video/C 1257

The Yellow Wallpaper
Director, Marie Ashton. This short film has become an important addition to women's studies and American literature course curricula. Set in the late 1800s, the story features Elizabeth, an aspiring writer who becomes ill and is forced to take a "rest cure." Completely isolated, her mind creates a world inside the wallpaper in her room--a world in which a woman is trapped and unable to escape. 1977. 14 min. Video/C 5679

Women Make Movies catalog description

Writing Desire.
A video essay on the new dream screen of the Internet and how it impacts on the global circulation of women's bodies from the third world to the first world. Although under-age Philippine 'pen pals' and post-Soviet mail-order brides have been part of the transnational exchange of sex in the post-colonial and post-Cold War marketplace of desire before the digital age, the Internet has accelerated these transactions. Directed by Ursula Biemann. c2001. 26 min. Video/C MM1026

Women Make Movies catalog description

Gender and Biology / Gender and Society

Intersexual Individuals

Black and White
In a small New Zealand hospital in 1953, the birth of Mani Bruce Mitchell caused a mild pandemonium. Fifty years later, this film interweaves the stories of this intersex activist and the acclaimed photographer Rebecca Swan, exploring their potent creative collaboration. This fascinating documentary introduces viewers to notions of fluid gender identity, challenging the rigid categories of 'male' and 'female'. Produced and directed by Kirsty MacDonald. 2006. 17 min. DVD 7916

Women Make Movies catalog description

Brain Sex: Brain Architecture and the Sexes. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1992. 51 min. each installment.

Sugar and Spice. Even during the first moments of life, baby girls and boys already behave differently. Combining case histories and scientific analysis this program argues that the mixture of hormones in the womb "hardwires" the brain with a sex-aligned signature before birth, causing it to become distinctly female or male--or a mixture of both. Video/C 6510

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better. Statistically speaking, why have men and women not proved equally adept at the same things? In this program, researchers debate whether differences in brain architecture lead to a division of talents and aptitudes between the sexes--and draw some startling conclusions. To illustrate these differences, children are observed in classrooms, on the playground, and at home. Video/C 6511

Love, Love Me, Do. How might acknowledging the brain's role in sex differentiation make interpersonal relationships run more smoothly? Using images from popular art, television drama, and hidden-camera footage to illustrate both predictable and unexpected conflicts, this program presents the way sex-related differences in brain architecture may influence love, marriage, reproduction and parenthood. Video/C 6512

Gender and Communication: Male-Female Differences in Language and Nonverbal Behavior
Explores male-female differences in communication and the impact that gender has on both verbal messages including speech, language, and vocabulary, as well as on nonverbal channels of communication such as touch, movement, and gesture. c2001. 42 min. Video/C 9099

Berkeley Media LLC catalog description

Gender and Relationships: Male-Female Differences in Love and Marriage.
Explores the differences in the ways that men and women experience and communicate the love relationship. Examines ways to make a relationship work better for both men and women. Features men and women from a variety of cultural and social backgrounds who provide testimony on how gender differences affect their relationships. Directed by Dane Archer. c2002. 44 min. DVD 7161 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 9395

Berkeley Media LLC catalog description

Gender, the Enduring Paradox.
Explores how gender affects how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how gender shapes our human identity. c1991. 58 min. Video/C 2347

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Hey! What About Us?
Insight into sex role stereotyping in physical activities of children in schools. Considers exclusion of girls from sports, reinforcement of the hero ethic in boys, and differential teacher treatment of boys and girls in classroom and playground. 1974. 15 min. 3/4" UMATIC. Video/C 159

Is it a Boy or a Girl?
Explores the medical management of infants born with ambiguous sexual anatomy and whether or not patients born with the disorder should be given the opportunity to choose their gender. Some argue that the standard practice of sexual assignment by surgery in infancy should be discontinued giving the intersexual the right to chose or not to chose surgery once that person reaches adolescence. Produced and written by Phyllis Ward. 2000. 54 min. DVD 8088

I is for Important.
Focuses on sex role stereotyping in social interactions and emotional expression. Pupils range from kindergarten through eighth grade. 1980. 12 min. 3/4" UMATIC. Video/C 158

Juggling Gender: Politics, Sex and Identity.
Features Jennifer Miller, juggler and director of CircusAmok. Miller speaks of her life and struggle as a lesbian woman who happens to have a moustache and beard. Includes scenes of circus performances, a gay rights parade, Miller interacting with friends, family, and strangers. 1992. 27 min. Video/C 3548

Women Make Movies catalog description

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Krawitz, Jan. "Juggling Gender." (movie reviews)Journal of Film and Video v45, n2-3 (Summer-Fall, 1993):113 (3 pages).

Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She
Explores the lives of those who do not conform to rigid gender concepts and examines changes in brain science that are shedding light on grey areas between male and female. The film also explores the serious social and family problems--even dangers--often faced by those whose gender may fall somewhere in between male and female. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2006. 75 min. DVD 8698

The Pinks and the Blues
Discusses the stereotypes that are applied to the sexes. Examines the historical development of these attitudes starting at birth and continuing through adulthood and the subtle ways parents and teachers condition babies and young children to accept traditional sex roles. 1980. 57 min. DVD 8809 [preservation copy]; vhs Video/C 287

Science and Gender with Evelyn Fox Keller.
From the World of Ideas with Bill Moyers. Evelyn Fox Keller, theoretical physicist and professor of rhetoric at UC Berkeley, discusses with Bill Moyers language as a carrier of ideology and the role of gender in scientific ideologies. 1989. 28 min. DVD 4853 [preservation copy]; also VHS Video/C 1855

Sex and Gender (Discovering Psychology; 17-18).
Program 17 presents male and female similarities and differences and how sex roles reflect social values and psychological knowledge. Program 18 presents physical and psychological changes as people age, and how society reacts to the later stages of life. 1989. 56 min. Video/C 3953:17-28

Sex: Unknown
Explores gender identity and gender reassignment with contributions of psychologists and researchers, and through personal insights from the Reimer family, including candid, heartrending interviews with JanetReimer and her son, who ultimately rejected his female identity and is now living as a man. Also includes the work of early sex researcher John Money who persuaded the Reimer parents to surgically alter their child after an accident destroyed his genitalia. 2001. 60 min. Video/C 8922

Oberacker, J. S. "Sex assignment surgery and the discourse of public television: The case of NOVA's Sex: Unknown" Television & New Media, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 25-48, 2007UCB users only

Why Men Don't Iron. Three-part series, 52 minutes each, 1998.

Part 1, Learning the Difference. This film reveals groundbreaking studies, both practical and scientific, that illustrate the variances between the learning patterns of boys and girls from birth to adolescence. From a personal encounter with a family trying to raise their sons and daughter with identical influences to a series of observational experiments with a group of four to seven year olds, this film explores the social, physiological, neurological and genetic aspects of stereotypical sex typed behavior. Video/C 6371

Part 2, The Brain at Work. A generation of equal opportunities has failed to iron out the great sex divide in the workplace. This film examines primarily through research on the brain, how biology plays a role in men's drive to succeed more than it does for women, and why this may explain the lack of women in the boardroom. Also looks at the contrasting behaviors of female and male athletes and the difference of "risk taking" behavior between the sexes. Video/C 6372

Part 3, The Emotional Difference. The era of equal opportunities raised expectations that men and women's roles would become interchangeable. Yet, research reveals that most men are neurologically primed to find household routine more difficult, and that women are hormonally primed for maternal behavior, finding such tasks less stressful than men do. This film explores the neurological elements that help to perpetuate persistent divisions of labor, and investigates the biological basis of our seemingly unchangeable emotional systems. Video/C 6373

XXXY
A portrait of two individuals born with ambiguous genitalia that calls into question the medical practice of gender assignment surgery of intersex infants and children. A film by Porter Gale, Laleh Soomekh. 2000. 13 min. DVD 9181; vhs Video/C 7670

Description from Berkeley Media LLC catalog

Reproductive Rights / Parenting

Medicine and Health videography (for works about reproductive technologies)

Abortion Issue, When Does Human Life Begin?: May 20, 1981 (Nightline)
Program follows the history of family planning, abortion, infanticide, including global religious and legal viewpoints. 33 min. Video/C 5778

Abortion and the Law
This 1965 television documentary investigates the controversy surrounding abortion before it was legalized in the United States, focusing on the moral, social, legal and psychological aspects of abortion. Presents interviews with clergymen, lawyers, and physicians who hold diametrically opposed views and tells of specific cases of abortion. Videodisc release of an episode of the television program CBS reports, originally broadcast on April 5, 1965. Reporters: Walter Cronkite; Eric Sevareid. 57 min. DVD 2450

Abortions - Stories from North and South.
Program follows the history of family planning, abortion, infanticide, including global religious and legal viewpoints. 1984. 54 min. Video/C 848

Access Denied.
Addresses cutbacks in women's reproductive freedom and civil rights against the backdrop of Operation Rescue's religious anti-abortion ferver. Produced by ReproVision, the media collective of WHAM (Women's Health Action Mobilization). 1991. 28 min. Video/C 3362

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Women Make Movies catalog description

And Baby Makes Two.
Interviews five adult mothers who tell why they chose to have their unanticipated baby or actually planned to become single parents. They discuss the reactions of society and their families, meeting financial and emotional demands, male role models, etc. 1983. 30 min. Video/C 551

Birth Control and the Law
Until the Griswold case, which neutralized the Comstock Law and reinforced the right to privacy, the vast majority of Americans had little access to birth control. This television news program investigates urban overpopulation and the struggle to provide family planning counseling and contraceptives to those wanting them. Includes interviews with Margaret Sanger, Estelle Griswold, various religious and health officials and discusses the differences in moral attitudes towards birth control of Catholics and non-Catholics. Videodisc release of an episode of the television program CBS reports, originally broadcast on May 10, 1962. Reporter: Eric Sevareid. Dist.: Films Media Group. 55 min. DVD 2451

Birth of Perception: the American Story on RU-486
Explores the heated controversy in America surrounding the struggle to get the French abortion pill RU-486 (mifepristone) approved for use in the United States. Directed & written by Kristine Clark. c1997. 45 min. Video/C MM830

Born to be Sold: Martha Rosler Reads the Strange Case of Baby M.
Martha Rosler discusses the social and economic implications of surrogate motherhood, using excerpts and quotations from media reports and court records of the Mary Beth Whitehead/Baby M case. c1988. 35 min. Video/C 3082

Broken Ties.
In the 1960's unwed mothers were pressured into giving up their babies. This thought-provoking documentary that focuses on the filmmakers own unwed pregancy includes interviews with family members and social workers, as it probes the reasons she complied with a family decision to enter a home for unwed mothers and give her baby up for adoption. Written, directed and produced by Debra Baker. c1999. 27 min. Video/C MM653

Casting the First Stone.
This documentary attempts, by means of interviews with both proponents and opponents of abortion in a Pennsylvania town, to show some of the differences in the ways people weight the value of human life. c1991. 58 min. Video/C 2628

China, One Child
Twenty-five years after its institution, assesses the success of China's controversial "one child" policy and the impact it has had on ordinary families through interviews with middle-class Beijing families to those in poor rural areas. Population growth has been slowed, but at an enormous social cost: A generation without siblings; abortion of female foetuses; imbalance between the sexes and a real concern that the policy has created a generation of spoilt children, so-called "Little emperors and empresses." 2005. 22 min. DVD 6977

Description from Filmakers Library catalog

China's Lost Girls.
Examines the consequences of China's two-decade-old, "one-child policy" designed to curb the country's exploding population. Due to cultural, social and economic factors, traditional preference leans toward boys, so girls are often hidden, aborted, or abandoned. As a result, tens of thousands of girls end up in orphanages across China. The program follows American families as they travel to China to adopt some of these girls. c2004. 43 min. DVD 4675

China's Only Child.
Discusses the crash program to control population growth in China by limiting the birth of a child to one per family for the next thirty years. c1984. Video/C 650

The Doctor's Story. (Life; 40)
Nepal has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. This episode explores the plight of Nepal's local health services, and links the situation to the prohibition by the U.S. government against funding any non-governmental organization that supports abortion. c2003. 23 min. Video/C 9849

Description from Bullfrog Films catalog

Eclipse of Reason.
Introduced by Charlton Heston. Documents the intra-uterine life of a male fetus at 5 months of age. Images of a late abortion are then shown. Takes a pro-life position. 1987. 27 min. Video/C 3095

Family Planning and Child Welfare
A film which demonstrates to social workers methods for initiating and maintaining sensitive and supportive conversations about family planning with their clients, with particular emphasis on those who chronically use alcohol and other drugs. 1997. 25 min.Video/C 5663

The Fragile Promise of Choice: Abortion in the United States Today.
Vignettes from around the United States, news footage and interviews combine to show how restrictive legislation, funding cutbacks, violence against clinics, and the political successes of the Pro-life movement is affecting abortion's availability and how activists and clinicians are working to preserve access to abortion. 1996. 57 min. Video/C 5385

Women Make Movies catalog description

Hard Truth.
A Christian pro-life group's take on the abortion issue. Text accompanies. 1991. 9 min. Video/C 3096

A Healthy Baby Girl.
A film by Judith Helfand. Presents the filmmaker's experience of coping with her own hysterectomy at twenty five for cancer caused by her mother's use of D.E.S., a synthetic hormone administered to prevent miscarriage.
c1996. 57 min. Video/C 5015

Women Make Movies catalog description

James, Caryn. "A Healthy Baby Girl." (television program reviews) New York Times v146 (Mon, June 16, 1997):B2(N), C14(L), col 3, 22 col in.

I Lease Wombs, I Don't Sell Babies: An Inquiry Into "Surrogate Motherhood"
Since it burst onto the public agenda in the 1980s, "surrogate" motherhood has aroused controversy and confusion. This powerful courtroom drama explores the ethical, emotional, and commercial issues underlying the practice of surrogacy and depicts its effects on three participants: the "biological" mother, who becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, the father, and his wife. In setting the issue of "surrogate" motherhood in the context of individual lives, this well-acted video relates a story that is seldom told and reveals the human side of this controversial practice. The courtroom drama is based on actual testimony. Four witnesses, each a party to a preconception agreement, are called to testify: the husband and wife who are having trouble conceiving a child, the broker who sets up the deal, and finally the "surrogate" mother, who has relinquished her baby to the father and his wife for $10,000, which translates to an hourly rate of less than the minimum wage. This is a drama that should be seen by everyone considering "surrogate" parenthood arrangements as well as by professionals in the family planning and counseling fields. The issues it raises force us to examine what it means to society when motherhood is turned into a commercial activity and the values of the marketplace take priority over the interests of women and their children. 1992. 46 min. Video/C MM540

I Witness.
Examines the effects of the abortion controversy on the community of Pensacola, Florida. Two doctors and an escort have been murdered at abortion clinics in the town, and violence fueled by religious fervor has forced the community to examine its convictions and responsibilities surrounding this difficult issue. Includes interviews with a diverse group of civil and religious leaders in Pensacola. 1998. 56 min. Video/C 6296

Jane: An Abortion Service /
This political look at a little-known chapter in women's history tells the story of "Jane," the Chicago-based women's health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. Includes interviews with the founder, Heather Booth, and other women who were involved with the service. Produced and directed by Kate Kirtz and Nell Lundy. 1995. 58 min. Video/C MM1140

Women Make Movies catalog description

The Journey Home: A Romanian Adoption
This is the story of Alexandra, an eleven-year-old Romanian girl who was adopted by a Canadian family at the age of three. Sandi and Al, Alexandra's parents, feel it is time for their daughter to make the journey to meet her birthparents and discover her roots. The film follows Alexandra and her adoptive family as they travel from Bucharest across Romania to the village where Alexandra was born. Along the way they visit orphanages for infants and children to see how they are run today. 2000. 44 min. Video/C 8970

Just Mom and Me
A film by Yvette Torell. Single motherhood in the U.S. is not just the experience of poor, uneducated women or minority teenagers, as often depicted by the media and the press. This film examines the lives of five mothers, whose circumstances are vastly different, who are raising children on their own: a widow raising a bi-racial daughter, A high school dropout raising her child, a lawyer balancing motherhood and a career, a middle-aged college student raising 3 young children, and a single woman who opted for artificial insemination to have a child. 1998. 60 min. Video/C 6520

Description from Filmakers Library catalog

Leona's Sister Gerri
Tells the story of Gerri Santoro, the real person in the police photograph of an anonymous woman collapsed on a motel room floor, dead from an illegal abortion. Reprinted thousands of times on placards, in newspapers, magazines and in books, this image has become a symbol for reproductive freedom. Produced and directed by Jane Gillooly. 1994. 57 min. DVD 7504; vhs Video/C 5991

Description from New Day Films catalog

Mary Ann Glendon.
From the series, World of Ideas with Bill Moyers. Mary Ann Glendon, professor of law, discusses abortion in the U.S. and Europe, and explains how she believes "Roe vs. Wade" gave rise to misinterpretation of the abortion issues of the U.S. 1989. 29 min. Video/C 1884

Massacre of Innocence.
This tape is produced and distributed by Eric Holmberg of Reel to Real Ministries, and takes an extreme pro-life stance. Very graphic images are used. (running time not listed) 1988. Video/C 3094

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Mothers on Trial.
Examines the issues surrounding the prosecution of pregnant women and mothers in the U.S. who are drug addicts. Debate centers around the issues of jail vs. treatment for substance dependent mothers who take drugs during pregnancy. Includes interviews with women prisoners, recovering women addicts, relatives and medical personnel who care for their drug damaged infants. c1990. 30 min. Video/C 6794

On the Eighth Day.
Documents the development and use of reproductive technology, suggesting that science and industry have combined to transform the act of procreation into the business of making babies. Explores the ethical, moral and legal questions surrounding in vitro fertilization and its technological offspring. 1992. 2 videotapes, 51 min. each. Video/C 3365

Women Make Movies catalog description

La Operacion
Discusses the issue of the sterilization of women as a form of birth control in Puerto Rico. 1985? 40 min. Video/C 5178

Ourselves, Our Bodies: The Feminist Movement and the Battle Over Abortion
Documentary that examines the feminist movement that began in the mid-1960's and how it eventually led to legalized abortion in the United States. Focuses on the division this has created between pro-abortion and anti-abortion supporters, and describes abortion law in various states. Produced by CBS News in association with the History Channel and A & E Network. 2002. 47 min. DVD 5125

The Pill
Chronicles little known chapters in the history of the development of the birth control pill and examines how far the pharmaceutical industry was willing to risk women's health. For its inquiry the film draws on archival footage, interviews with women from from Puerto Rico who became unsuspecting test subjects for the early pill, insights from women health activists who questioned the high-dose version's safety, and testimony from scientists who developed the pill. 1999. 46 min. Video/C 7975

Description from Women Make Movies catalog

The Pill
Examines the work of contraceptive pioneers Margaret Sanger, Katherine McCormick, Gregory Pincus and John Rock, and features personal accounts from the first generation of women to have access to the Pill. Shows how harnessing female hormones into a little pill unleashed a social revolution that allowed women to pursue careers as never before, fueled the feminist and consumer health movements, and encourged more open attitudes towards sex. Originally broadcast on PBS as a segment of The American Experience. 2003. 60 min. Video/C 9599

The Preferred Sex...The Desired Number.
In many societies, a woman is valued according to her reproductive efficiency. Her status in family and community depends on her ability to bear children of the desired number and of the desired sex. Film investigates the condition of women in Nigeria and India through interviews with husbands, wives, clergy and family planning personnel.1995. 53 min. Video/C 4011

Pregnancy and Substance Abuse.
Studies fetal alcohol syndrome and prenatal care in the United States. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1991.28 min. Video/C 2506

The Silent Scream.
Ultrasound footage of a 12-week old fetus being aborted. One of the earliest films used extensively by pro-life groups. Very graphic images. c1994. 28 min. Video/C 3093

Refrigerator Mothers
From the 1950s through the early 1970s, the American medical establishment thought it had found the cause of autism: poor mothering. Doctors presumed that the bizarre behaviors of autistic children - rigid rituals, difficulty with speech, extreme self-isolation - stemmed from their mothers' emotional frigidity. We now know that autism is a brain disorder, not the result of poor parenting. But for a whole generation of women branded as cold "refrigerator mothers," the damage had already been done. 2002.. 54 min. Video/C 9687

Description from Fanlight catalog

Soldiers in the Army of God.
This film focuses primarily on 'soldiers' in the Army of God, a violent fringe pro-life group bonded together by the Internet, by organized rallies, and by a common belief that abortions must be stopped at all costs. Candidly explores the reasons why these people advocate terrorist tactics, such as bombing clinics and killing doctors. Includes footage of high-profile crimes targeted at abortion clinics, most notably the 1993 murder of two abortion clinic workers in Pensacola by Paul Hill, an interview with Michael Bray, who torced an abortion clinic and others associated with the movement. Directors, Marc Levin, Daphne Pinkerson. 2006. 70 min. DVD 5553

That Delicate Balance II--Our Bill of Rights: Life and Choice after Roe v Wade.
Fred Friendly hosts this series on the Bill of Rights and its effect on the United States. This program examines the relevance of the Bill of Rights to the 20th century dispute over abortion. 1992. 89 min. Video/C 2936

This Child is Mine
This is the first documentary to explore the ethical and social dilemmas surrounding the issue of parenting by women with developmental disabilities. Designed to dispel the myth that mental retardation automatically equates with parental inadequacy, the film focuses on four such women, showing that mildly handicapped women are perfectly capable of being good mothers if some specialized support services are available. 1988. 29 min. Video/C MM645

Unborn in the USA
Looks at the pro-life movement in the United States over the past 35 years, offering insight into both the religious and political ideologies of this social movement. Traveling across 35 states, the filmmakers are granted unprecedented access to pro-life groups, movement icons, fund-raising machines, and college classes where students are groomed to carry the message. More than 70 interviews are interwoven with archival footage and street confrontations to document one of the most tenacious social movements in American history. Directed, produced, written and edited by Stephen Fell and Will Thompson. 2007. 110 min. DVD 8660

Description from First Run Icarus catalog

When Abortion was Illegal: Untold Stories.
Presents a portrait of the times before Roe v. Wade when profound social stigma surrounded both abortion and unwed motherhood. Makes a strong case for choice as a fundamental democratic right. A film by Dorothy Fadiman. 1992. 28 min. Video/C 2884

Women Make Movies catalog description

View this film online (via Internet Moving Image Archive)

With a Vengeance: The Fight for Reproductive Freedom.
Based on abortion discussion workshops, addresses the subject of abortion and the Pro-choice movement in the United States. 1989. 40 min. Video/C 1777

Women Make Movies catalog description

Women and/In the Media / Gender and Language

The Beauty Backlash
With it's "Real beauty" marketing campaign, the Dove brand struck a chord with women skeptical of unhealthy or absurd standards of attractiveness. This program investigates consumer reactions against the idealized images of beauty promoted by TV, movies, and glossy magazines, while exploring the complex relationship between corporate strategy and feminine self-esteem. What are the implications for the global cosmetics and fashion industries? High-level insights concerning Dove, L'Oreal, and advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi provide a fascinating departure point for a socioeconomic discourse. Dist.: Films Media Group. 2007. 30 min. DVD 8871

Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Impact of Media Images on Women and Girls
A documentary about the fight against the toxic and degrading messages to women and girls that dominate the media. The film presents the leading authorities in the fields of psychology of women and girls, eating disorders, gender studies, violence against women, and media literacy -- and focuses their ideas on practical solutions and the best tactics for reclaiming our culture. Produced and directed by Margaret Lazarus [and] Renner Wunderlich. 2000. 2000. 34 min. Video/C 7156

Breakin' In: The Making of a Hip Hop Dancer.
music videos. Follows three young women as they compete for roles in hip hop music videos. Through their eyes we see how this world has impacted their personal values, their career ambitions and their concepts of beauty and self-image. Written and directed by Elizabeth St. Philip. Dist.: National Film Board of Canada. 2005. 71 min. DVD 6687

Buying Into Sexy
A report on how marketers, especially in the clothing industry, are selling a grown-up, sexy image to pre-teen girls. This program follows the daily lives of tween girls, recording their perceptions of fashion, celebrities, boys and themselves. Interviews with both concerned and clueless parents are included, as well as a glimpse into corporate decision making that impacts tween culture. Conversations with Candie's CEO and a hard look at MuchMusic programming practices enhance this social analysis. Dist.: Films Media Group. c2007. 26 min. DVD 8870

Calling the Shots.
Focuses on the diversity of films being made by women today, the power structure of the industry and the women who hold such power. c1989. 118 min. Video/C 2875

Cosmetic Advertising of the 60's
Ads: Fabulous fakes (2 adds)--Noxzema (7)--Yardley (3)-- Maybelline (4)--Cover Girl--Diamond Deb--First hand foam (3)--Pretty face--Coty cremestick--Avon (5)--Max Factor--Pacquins--Pond's--Fabulash--Desert flower (2)-- Chantilly perfume--Bourjois--Clairol (2)--Crepe de Chine--Sunbeam shavers--Ambush perfume--Hind's lotion-- Oh de London cologne--Tigresse & Brut--My Island cologne--Revlon Intimate--Tabu perfume--Hazel Bishop--Jergens lotion. 199?. 45 min. Video/C 6487

Cosmetic Advertising of the 70's
Ads: Revlon (8 adds)--Avon (3)--Coty (2)--Flex conditioner--Oil of Olay (5)--Norell perfume--Aziza eye makeup (2)--Maxi lip gloss--Pantene shampoo--O.B. tampons (2)--Clairol hair dye (2)--Vidal Sassoon (4)-- Faberge (2)--Almay deep mist moisturizer--Pretty feet & hands (2)--Second debut--Nair--Merle Norman cosmetics--Babe fragrance--Mila cleanser-- Esoterica --Alo after tan--Cie perfume--Aviance perfume--Dana tabu--Jovan cologne--Max Factor (2)-- L'Air du temps--Super Lustrous Mascara--Love's baby soft--L'Oreal (4)--Maybelline (2)--Flicker--Tickle deodorant--Selsun Blue--Nuance--Preference--Vaseline Intensive care--Natural wonder--Rive gauche--Cachet-- Lip quencher--Emeraude--Erno Lazlo products--Style light hairspray--Born beautiful hair color--Posner light touch--Loving care--Partage fragrance. 199?. 44 min. Video/C 6488

Crack in the Tube.
Humorously de-constructs some of the female roles represented on television with the underlying suggestion that a greater variety of visions and ovices ought to be possible. Multiple shorts- see Gladis using long display for individual titles. c1987. 90 min. Video/C 3766

Dreamworlds: Desire/Sex/Power in Rock Video
Shows scenes from over 165 music videos to illustrate how women are portrayed in male-created videos, examining such issues as masculinity, femininity, sex, and sex roles. Questions the impact that the portrayal of sex and sexual relations in mass media have on society and culture in our everyday life. Includes a scene of a brutal gang rape from the movie, The accused. Written, edited & narrated by Sut Jhally. 1991, 57 min. DVD 4892

Dreamworlds 2.
A controversial video that MTV tried to ban by threat of legal action if it was released. Portrays the impact that sex and violence in media have on society and culture in our everyday life. Shows scenes from over 165 music videos to show how the media portrays masculinity, femininity, sex, and sex roles. Includes a scene of a brutal gang rape from the movie, The accused. Updated ed. of the 1991 program: Dreamworlds (DVD 4892) c1995. 57 min. Video/C 4057

Description from Media Education Foundation filmcatalog

Dreamworlds 3
Examines the stories contemporary music videos tell about girls and women, and encourages viewers to consider how these narratives shape individual and cultural attitudes about sexuality. Illustrated with hundreds of up-to-date images, Dreamworlds 3 offers a unique and powerful tool for understanding both the continuing influence of music videos and how pop culture more generally filters the identities of young men and women through a dangerously narrow set of myths about sexuality and gender. In doing so, it inspires viewers to reflect critically on images that they might otherwise take for granted. A look at how the narratives of music videos shape individual & cultural attitudes toward femininity, masculinity, sexuality and race. Update of Dreamworlds 2 (1995) & Dreamworlds (DVD 4892). Written, edited & narrated by Sut Jhally. c2007. DVD 8367

Description from Media Education Foundation filmcatalog

Hollywood Harems.
This documentary examines Hollywood stereotypes of the East, with particular attention paid to the Middle East and the depiction of women of the East. Juxtaposing film clips from the 20s through the 80s, the filmmaker argues these fantasies have worked both to shape and reinforce often derogative assumptions about the peoples of the East while at the same time reinscribing the moral, spiritual, and cultural supremacy of the Anglo-European West. 1999. 25 min. Video/C 7079

Women Make Movies catalog description

Killing Us Softly.
A study of the psychological and sexual themes that pervade today's advertising for products. c1979. 30 min. Video/C 443
Still Killing Us Softly.
Continues discussion about the manner in which women are portrayed by advertising. c1987. 32 min. Video/C 1116

Beyond Killing Us Softly: The Impact of Media Images on Women and Girls
A documentary about the fight against the toxic and degrading messages to women and girls that dominate the media. The film presents the leading authorities in the fields of psychology of women and girls, eating disorders, gender studies, violence against women, and media literacy -- and focuses their ideas on practical solutions and the best tactics for reclaiming our culture. Produced and directed by Margaret Lazarus [and] Renner Wunderlich. 2000. 2000. 34 min. Video/C 7156

Killing Us Softly 3.
Jean Kilbourne reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With wit and warmth, she uses over 160 ads and commercials to critique advertising's image of women, inviting viewers to look at familiar images in a new way, that moves and empowers them to take action. c2000. 34 min. DVD 1410; vhs Video/C 6979
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Description of Killing Us Softly 3 from Media Education Foundation filmcatalog

Martha Rosler Reads Vogue
As Rosler leafs through the Vogue Magazine, the ads and the feature articles become indistinguishable. Her exaggerated parody of television commercials for elegant products gradually shifts to direct criticism. 1982. 28 min. Video/C 2193

The Role of Women in the Movies.
A history of the treatment of women on the screen. Features sequence from the films of Lillian Gish, Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson, Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Pola Negri, Louis Brooks, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and Mae West. 1979. 29 min.DVD 4219 (preservation copy); Video/C 835 NRLF #: B 4 175 470

Sexism in Language.
This program presents closely analyzed examples that show how sexism and antisexism may be contained in language use - in song lyrics,everyday conversation, newspaper reports, written conversations, and satire. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1991. 20 min. Video/C 2825

Sexism in Language: Thief of Honor, Shaper of Lies
Lynn T. Lovdal explores sexism in both the syntax and semantics of language and shows how it is often unintentional or even unrecognized. She explores four key areas: "female" words that are dependent on a "male" version, words that are more positive for men than for women, words for women that carry negative sexual connotations, and "neutral" words that become inferior when applied to women. c1995. 29 min. Video/C 4115

Sexual Stereotypes in Media: Superman and the Bride.
This program shows how pervasive images are of man as Superman and woman as his slavish bride- on film and TV, in the fiction on which they are based, even in so-called documentaries. Dist.: Films Media Group. 1993. 40 min. Video/C 2824

Sexy Inc.: Our Children Under Influence /
Analyzes the hypersexualization of our environment and its noxious effects on young people. Experts criticize an unhealthy culture created by advertising and the media, and the many examples shown illustrate how children are reduced to consumers bombarded with images of girls treated as purely sexual objects. Dist.: National Film Board of Canada. 2007. 36 min. DVD 8891
Slaying the Dragon.
This film analyzes the roles and images of Asian women promulgated by the Hollywood film industry and network television over the past fifty years. 198?. 60 min. Video/C 1496

Center for Asian American Media catalog description

Some Nudity Required
A documentary about the inside workings of Hollywood's B-movie industry, featuring film clips and rare interviews with the industry's exploitation vets. Gets to the heart of a widely felt and complex attraction to an exploitive world of filmmaking that specializes in the erotic/slasher/action genre. Interviewees: Roger Corman, Jim Wynorski, Maria Ford, Julie Strain. c1999. 82 min. Video/C 8347

Wet Dreams and False Images
A brooklyn barber covers his wall with magazine cut-outs of women, however when he is introduced to the art of photo-retouching, his perceptions of beauty are called into question. This award winning documentary uses humor to address serious concerns about the marketing of commercial illusion and unrealizable standards of physical perfection. Directed and produced by Jesse Epstein. Dist.: New Day Films. 1994. 11 min. DVD 7167

What a Girl Wants
Eleven girls ages 8 to 16 from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds and two classrooms of middle and high school students discuss their views on mass media and how it impacts their lives. Juxtaposing footage culled from a typical week of television broadcasting with original interviews examines how the media presents girls. c2000. 33 min. Video/C 9175

Media Education Foundation catalog description

Women in the Media.
Participants: Betty Friedan, David Gergen, Renee Poussaint, Nancy Woohull, Eleanor Randolf, Bob Guccione. A Symposium of leading figures in the media discussing issues relating to roles and perceptions of women in the media. 1990. 97 min. Video/C 1906

Women Seen on Television.
Blends narration, clips of broadcast footage and rock music into a critical look at television's stereotypical view of women. c1991. 11 min. Video/C 2596

A Word in Edgewise.
Film explains the role of language in shaping behavior and explores sex bias in everyday speech and writing. Cites illustrations of abuses as well as suggestions to improve awareness of our use and abuse of language. 1986. 26 min. Video/C 3363

Women Make Movies catalog description

Women's Bodies / Body Image / Gender Identity

Psychology (for works about eating disorders)

Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour.
Journeying from Barbie conventions to anti-Barbie demonstrations, from girls' play dates to Barbie web pages, Barbie Nation plumbs the international cult of the Barbie doll, telling the Barbie stories of diverse men, women and children. Explores the history of the Barbie doll, through older and contemporary clips. Includes interviews with Barbie fans, foes, and fetishists; people of all ages and sexes who either covet or revile Barbie. Visits conventions and auctions, where early dolls and memorabilia are bought and sold. Also tells the story of Barbie's creator and Mattel co-founder: Ruth Handler, whose commentary runs throughout the film. Producer/director/writer/narrator, Susan Stern. 1998. 54 min. DVD 3708; also VHS Video/C 5669

Description from New Day Films catalog

Beautopia
Documents the world of actual and aspiring fashion models and supermodels. Four young women models are followed around the globe as they attempt to become superstars. Balanced with interviews with established models such as Lauren Hutton, Elle MacPherson, and Claudia Schiffer, the film contrasts the sobering reality of the business of beauty with its false promises, competition and rejection to the fairy tale images in the young models' heads. Director/producer/writer, Katharina Otto. 1993.104 min. Video/C 8594

Becoming Barbie.
This documentary provides a compelling look at body image issues and the role the media plays in promoting certain ideals for women. It examines eating disorders that have become commonplace in society and looks at the influence of the Barbie doll on young girls. Powerful media images, in particular in the fashion and advertising industry, serve as a backdrop for insights into the virtually impossible and highly dangerous physical goals that so many women strive to achieve. It also explores the new world of modelling in which models in video, film and photographs are sculpted by computer technology presenting images to emulate that are not even totally human. Includes interviews with teenagers and professionals working with eating disorder patients. 1993.47 min. Video/C 4544

Bionic Beauty Salon
An educational and entertaining documentary addressing the insecurities of women of all ages who learn to place their self-worth in the measure of their beauty. The film offers a model for how to reclaim the media and find one's true self through six remarkable teenage girls who speak about their struggles with feminine identity. c1999. 22 min. Video/C 9300

New Day Films catalog description

Body Politics
Around the world, takes a look at women's efforts to change societal attitudes about the "ideal" female form. Featuring historical footage and propaganda from the 19th century, when women were pressured to wear corsets, to the 40s and 50s picturing the "ideal" female figure, to the 1990s, the film presents an interesting contrast with contemporary women who are challenging old attitudes. Women boxers, rock climbers, and runners are seen challenging old assumptions about women's physical abilities. Anorexia is also discussed as a condition arising from younger women's need to attain an impossible physical ideal. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1997. 48 min. Video/C MM56

Breast Implants on Trial
Covers a class action suit and individual liability suits on the issue of breast implants, FDA and medical findings, and issues of medicine and science in the courtroom. Includes interviews with physicians, lawyers, the CEO of Dow Corning Corporation, and individuals with illnesses they feel are linked to their use of silicone breast implants. Originally shown on the television program Frontline on February 27, 1996. 87 min. Video/C 5799

Breasts
Presents interviews with 22 women, most of whom appear topless, speaking candidly about their attitudes toward breasts. The participants represent a wide range of age, size, race and background including two women with mastectomies, another who is concerned about the safety of her silicone implants, a self-proclaimed leader of the "Strong Breast Revolution," a transsexual, a 420-pound comedienne and two mother-daughter pairs. Interwoven with the interviews are segments of breast-related archival footage, including a racy 1920s animated cartoon, a 1950s beauty pageant, and a 1970s bra ad. 1996. 50 min. Video/C MM316

Description from First Run/Icarus catalog

Bulimia.
Host Hugh Downs examines the dangers of the binge-eating disorder, bulimia, and its effects on victims through interviews with experts, recovered bulimics including actress Jane Fonda and the parents of bulimics. Shows scenes of group therapy for eating problems. c1982. 14 min. Video/C 544

Busting Out.
A disarmingly honest and intimate exploration of our society's fascination with women's breasts. Unflinchingly examines the good, the bad and the ugly sides of this American icon, delving into the history and politics of breast obsession in the United States. From breast-crazy men shouting 'Flash those racks!' to the fears of breast cancer and the disparate attitudes of cultures worldwide, the directors leave no stone unturned in their quest to demystify the American breast. Written, produced & directed by Francine Strickwerda & Laurel Spellman Smith. 2004. 57 min.

Description from Bullfrog Films catalog

Cancer in Two Voices.
This film provides a glimpse into the real lives of two lesbian women, Sandy and Barbara, especially into their coping with Barbara's breast cancer. Sandy and Barbara had almost three years together from the time Barbara's cancer was diagnosed until her death in 1988. The film is based on home videotapes made during that time. 1994. 43 min. Video/C 4002

Women Make Movies catalog description

Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter.
Shows interactions between an Alzheimer's patient and her daughter. The daughter discusses how she has dealt with her mother's illness and describes various stages of the disease. c1994. 45 min. Video/C 3976

Women Make Movies catalog description

Bergman, T. "Personal narrative, dialogism, and the performance of "truth" in Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter." Text and Performance Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 20-37, Jan. 2004 UC users only
Goodman, Walter. "P.O.V.: Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter." (television program reviews) New York Times v144 (Tue, June 6, 1995):B3(N), C16(L), col 3, 13 col in.
Pincus, Elizabeth. "Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter." (video recording reviews) Advocate, n683 (June 13, 1995):60 (2 pages).

The Cult of the Beautiful Body: Observations from the Plane of Body Consciousnes
Extreme body consciousness has taken youthful narcissism to new heights, making 'boy meets girl' a ruthless physical selection process. This program examines the cult of the body in Western society and how it has reduced today's courtship ritual to a one-dimensional experience based primarily on physical attraction. Beginning with the pressure that men currently feel to conform to an abstract physical ideal, the role of the media is scrutinized, along with the culture that from Munich to Los Angeles excludes all who do not espouse the ideals of bodily perfection at the expense of all else. 30 min. Video/C 9679

Dialogues with Madwomen.
Captures the experiences of seven women who have experienced the dark side of the imagination -- multiple personality, manic-depression, schizophrenia, euphoria. Produced by Irving Saraf and Allie Light. 1993. 90 min. Video/C 3544

Women Make Movies catalog description

Jones, A.L. "Dialogues with Madwomen." Contemporary Psychology, 1996 Mar, V41 N3:264-265.
Metz, Holly. "Dialogues with Madwomen." Progressive v58, n2 (Feb, 1994): 12.
Weber, Bruce. "Dialogues with Madwomen." New York Times v143 (Tue, August 2, 1994):B2(N), C20(L), col 3, 17 col in.

Diet Unto Death: Anorexia Nervosa.
Documentary examines the causes, symptoms and therapy used to treat a nutritional disorder that causes it's victims, usually adolescent girls, to starve themselves. 1980. 13 min.Video/C 205

Famine Within.
This documentary addresses the contemporary obsession with body size and shape among North American women. Influenced by the mass media and the demands of consumerism, women have come to judge their bodies according to the unrealistic standards of our culture's current beauty ideal. 1990. 118 min.Video/C 2167

Female Circumcision
In the first segment female genital mutilation in Africa and Asia is described in personal testimony as well as in an interview with Alice Walker about her documentary films. Scenes from Fire Eyes and Warrior Marks are shown to demonstrate how mutilation is often performed, and Walker reads from her novel Possessing the Secret of Joy, about an African woman who responds to the cultural tradition of female circumcision. Segment from the television program Rights & wrongs broadcast July 14, 1993. 27 min. Video/C 6698

Fire Eyes
Explores the socio-economic, psychological and medical consequences of the ancient custom of female circumcision which is routed in deep cultural mores and performed on more than 80 million women worldwide. In this film, several women who have experienced this "rite of passage" voice varying points of view on perpetuating the practice. Testimony from doctors detail the various forms of female circumcision and the horrendous ob/gyn problems that result. 1994. 60 min. Video/C MM113

Filmakers Library catalog description

Gap-toothed Women.
A Les Blank film, interviews 40 women, all of whom have a spacebetween their two front teeth. Explores the self-image of these women and the pressures they feel to conform to the ideals of mass media. Includes Lauren Hutton, Sandra Day O'Connor, Claudia Schmidt, Katherine Wallach. c1987. 30 min. DVD 4980; vhs Video/C 3558

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

The Human Body: Appearance, Shape and Self-image
Contents: Tattoo: the living canvas -- Cosmetic surgery: the body as medical sculpture -- Branding & piercing the human animal -- Tyranny of perfection: models for the rest of us? -- Weightism: the last acceptable prejudice? -- Weightism: Consequences -- Beauty: cultural differences -- Contesting the beauty contest -- Body image & eating disorders: Onset -- Body image & eating disorders: Crisis -- Body image & eating disorders: the road back -- Aging: the body changes.
This video examines 12 different facets of the human body that impact our preferences and prejudices, which can lead us to attempt dramatic--but not always wise-- alterations of what we look like. Some of the subjects explored include bulimia, anorexia, tattooing, branding, plastic surgery, scarification, body prejudices and "weightism", the impact of "supermodels" and beauty pageants, the effects of aging, and cultural differences in ideas about who is beautiful. c1998. 38 min. Video/C 5845

Berkeley Media LLC catalog description

I, Doll: The Unauthorized Biography of America's 11 1/2" Sweetheart /
A history and examination of the international social phenomenon of the Barbie doll; a toy, idol, role model and fashion model reflecting standards of appearance and lifestyle for girls and women since 1959. Praised for encouraging little girls towards careers and accessorizing, she is also blamed for eating disorders, silicone breast implants and collection frenzies. Along the way meet the "Barbie Hall of Fame" curator, as well as bulmics, artists, owners of Barbie collections and other people whose lives have been affected by this doll. Produced, directed and written by Tula Asselanis. 1995. 58 min. Video/C MM1014

Description from Women Make Movies catalog

Inside Out: Stories of Bulimia
Bulimia is on the rise, yet it is often portrayed in the media as a kind of "extreme" dieting practiced by models, socialites and others obsessed with their appearance. In reality, this eating disorder can be as hard to overcome as any addiction and affects both men and women from all walks of life. This documentary takes the viewer into the lives of women and men who are struggling to cope with bulimia and its consequences. It combines interviews and observational footage of each of them and their family members illuminating the feelings of compulsion, confusion and desperation endemic to the disorder...but also the hope of recovery. 2002. 56 min. Video/C 9521

Fanlight Productions catalog description

Into the Fire: American Women in the Spanish Civil War
Focuses on sixteen of the 80 or so American women who joined the International Brigade volunteers from fifty countries who came to fight for democracy in Spain in 1936. The film's narrative includes the words of Dorothy Parker, Josephine Herbst and Virginia Cowles, as well as the articles and letters exchanged by Martha Gellhorn and Eleanor Roosevelt during the war. The women's hearbreak at the refusal of the democracies including the U.S. to come to Spain's aid, is powerfully conveyed. Directed by Julia Newman. c2002. 58 min. DVD 8078; vhs Video/C 9782

Description from Filmakers Library catalog

Last to Know.
A documentary about four women of different backgrounds who are similarly dependent upon alchohol or prescribed drugs. Describes the nature of their addiction and how it is possibly perpetuated by the medical establishment and other societal forces. 1983. 45 min. 3/4" UMATIC Video/C 541

Let's Face It: Women Explore Their Aging Faces
Seven women ages 45 to 65 explore and reflect on their aging faces uncovering their ambivalence, vanity, anxiety, joy and acceptance of growing older through open, honest, and funny revelations with their friends. A film by Wendy Oser, Joan Levinson & Beverly Spencer. 2002. 26 min. Video/C 9479

Losing: A Conversation with the Parents
This distanced narrative, which approximates a soap opera or a TV interview of bereaved relatives of a victim, confronts two means by which food is used as a weapon: the internalized oppression of self-starvation (anorexia nervosa), and starvation because of poverty and economic domination. Rosler exposes underlying social realities from starvation in Third World countries to the phenomenon of dieting and starvation to create an ideal female self in contemporay American culture. A film by Martha Rosler. Dist.: Video Data Bank. 1977. 20 min. Video/C 5151

Period Piece
A film by Jennifer Frame and Jay Rosenblatt. Women of various ages (8-84) and ethnicities share how they felt when their menstrual cycles first started. Old educational films are revisited in new ways to show humorous and historical views of this rite of passage. This film explores the general discomfort around the subject of menstruation and the pain girls experience as they negotiate relationships with their bodies and their culture. 1996. 30 min. Video/C 6584

Mirror Mirror.
Explores the relationship between a woman's body image and the quest for an idealized female form. 13 women of varying age, size, and ethnicity candidly reveal the ambivalence with which they regard their own bodies. c1990. 17 min. Video/C 3364

ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries

Women Make Movies catalog description

Perfect Illusions: Eating Disorders and the Family
Four young women suffering from eating disorders and their families discuss and explain their experiences. Followed by a special edition of KCTS Connects which follows up, a year later, with two of the women who were profiled in the program. 2002. 84 min. DVD 6541

Pumping Iron II: The Women
This controversial film about blood, sweat, and beauty follows the stories of five top female body-builders as they prepare for the Caesars Palace World Cup championship. 1985. 107 min. DVD 2891

Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer /
Rachel's Daughters, the first feature length film to be made about the causes of breast cancer, is an investigative documentary with a difference. Eight women living with breast cancer act as detectives, traveling across the country interviewing scientists and researchers about the possible causes of the disease. These interviews are woven together with historical footage, short dramatizations and emotional visualizations, creating an engaging detective story. Directed and edited by Allie Light and Irving Saraf. 1997. 107 min. Video/C 5384

Women Make Movies catalog description

Gross, Liza. "Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer." (video recording reviews)Sierra v83, n1 (Jan-Feb, 1998):111 (2 pages).
Kolata, Gina. "Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer." (television reviews) New York Times v147 (Wed, Oct 1, 1997):B5(N), E1(L), col 1, 12 col in.
Wilcox, Carolyn. "Rachel's Daughters: Searching for the Causes of Breast Cancer." (video recording reviews) Library Journal v123, n13 (August, 1998):150.

Sally's Beauty Spot.
Shows a woman's attitude toward her body by exploring her feelings towards a small mole on her breast. Writer and director, Helen Lee. 1990. 12 min. Video/C 3361

Women Make Movies catalog description

Lee, Helen. "A Peculiar Sensation: A Personal Genealogy of Korean American Women's Cinema." (Race in Contemporary American Cinema, part 8) Cineaste v23, n1 (Wntr, 1997):36 (3 pages).

Skin and Ink: Artists and Collectors.
Increasing numbers of women are choosing to become tattooed. This documentary looks at both women who have tattoos and those who create them, revealing motives for becoming heavily tattooed, as well as some of the social repercussions. 1990. 28 min. Video/C 4927

Women Make Movies catalog description

Slim Hopes: Advertising and the Obsession with Thinness.
Illustrated lecture which explores the manner in which women are portrayed by advertising with the focus on thinness. Discusses the impact this portrayal has on the self images of women and girls and offers a new way to think about eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.

Contents: Impossible beauty -- The waif look -- Constructed bodies -- Food & sex -- Food & control -- The weight loss industry -- Freeing imaginations. c1995. 30 min. Video/C 4494

Description from Media Education Foundation filmcatalog

Smile Pretty. (Girls in America: Identity and Adolescence)
Teenage girls from a cross-section of ethnic backgrounds open their hearts aboutlife as a beauty queen, discussing the pressure to fulfill a societal ideal, the allure of celebrity,and the artificiality of the ) modelling trade. In addition, they share incidents of heroism and sacrifice, feelings about their struggle for personal identity, and insights into the mother/daughter relationship. Dist.: Films Media Group. c1999. 57 min. Video/C 7304

Systems of Authority, Methods of Repression.
Views sexual assault against women within the larger framework of societal structures and cultural mores which encourage attitudes and actions of repression and violence. 1990. 40 min. Video/C 5046

Stigmata: The Transfigured Body.
Women discuss tattooing and body piercing and the link between these practices and women's empowerment. 1992. 27 min. Video/C 4926

Women Make Movies catalog description

Swallow
This account of two white suburban girls, interspersed with seventies archival media clips, examines the possibility that depression and anorexia are language disorders. The wrongly naming of things, and the subsequent loss of meaning, is one of several devices skillfully and humorously applied to call into question modes of representation. 1995. 28 min. Video/C 8609

Taking Our Bodies Back: The Women's Health Movement
Explores ten critical areas of the women's health movement, from the concept of self-help to the issue of informed surgical consent, documenting a growing movement of women striving to regain control of their bodies. The film shows women becoming aware of their rights in dealing with the medical industry as it explores such issues as self-help, birth at h