Call for Writers: Women in Politics in Film and TV

Call for Writers: Women in Politics

In the United States, women make up only 17% of Congress, and there has never been a female president or vice president. These are sad facts that many of us know and often trot out in political discussions. How can any government claim to be representative when there are so few women in positions of power? Women have it worse in oppressive societies that refuse to even allow them suffrage, and women are far better represented politically in others.  

When we turn to media–contemporary television especially–we see numerous women in leadership positions. In the world of fiction, women have been presidents and vice presidents, congresspersons, community leaders, and the list goes on. Even when they are present in larger numbers, the representations tend to have many of the same problems that we discuss generally with women in media: the women are objectified and their stories are sidelined. You can’t be what you can’t see, after all. We need to see more women in politics in movies and TV.

With election season nearing its end, we encourage you to step into the world of Women in Politics for our latest theme week. We’re interested in fictional women in politics and representations of women in politics today and historically. We want to talk about women in politics here; a marked contrast from the 2012 election cycle. You can pretend the current election isn’t really happening, if only for a little while. (Don’t forget to vote, U.S.)

Here are some suggested movies, documentaries, and TV shows.

As a reminder, these are a few basic guidelines for guest writers on our site:

–We like most of our pieces to be 1,000 – 2,000 words, preferably with some images and links.

–Please send your piece in the text of an email, including links to all images, no later than Friday, November 23rd.
–Include a 2-3 sentence bio for placement at the end of your piece.

Email us at btchflcks(at)gmail(dot)com if you’d like to contribute a review. We accept original pieces or cross-posts.

Submit away!