The radical notion that women like good movies
We had a great response to our Reproduction and Abortion series here at Bitch Flicks, and want to thank everyone who wrote a piece for us. Here they all are. The Dancer’s Dilemma by Myrna Waldron Dirty Dancing I was less than a year old when Dirty Dancing came out. It is known for the … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: The Roundup”
The cast of Roseanne I grew up watching Roseanne. The show first aired in 1988—when I was ten years old—and it ended after 9 seasons, around the time I graduated high school. The fact that the show now appears in reruns on various television stations, during all hours of the day and night, often makes … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: ‘Roseanne’s’ Discussion of Abortion Nearly Twenty-Five Years Ago Highlights the Current Feminist Backlash”
(L-R): Hanna (Lena Dunham), Allison Williams (Marnie), Zosia Mamet (Shoshanna) in Girls Vacillating between vitriolic condemnation and laudable praise, Lena Dunham’s Girls has dominated pop culture dialogue. I eagerly anticipated the serie’s premiere. Yes, the show depicts economically privileged characters. Yes, the incredibly white and homogenous cast should be more diverse. And yes, staff writer Lesley … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: ‘Girls’ and ‘Sex and the City’ Both Handle Abortion With Humor”
Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy Warning: if you have not watched up to Grey’s Anatomy Season 7, spoilers ahead! Abortion is healthcare — a routine, normal and legal medical procedure. Yet most films and TV don’t ever broach the subject. Their characters don’t get abortions, people don’t talk about abortion. That’s … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Advocates Abortion and Reproductive Rights”
This film originally appeared at Bitch Flicks on June 3, 2009. The description of the film from the YouTube page: Silenced depicts the grim reality for those who work and volunteer — at abortion clinics. Made by an anonymous filmmaker, Silenced was first screened at the Womens Medical Fund Spring Reception on May 21, 2009. … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: Silenced: A Short Silent Film about Abortion Clinic Escorts”
Juno This is a guest post by Gretchen Sisson. When it comes to abortion, Juno is one film all sides of the debate have alternately claimed as their own and picked apart. Screenwriter Diablo Cody managed to earn both points and critics across the political spectrum with her story of a sarcastic, scrappy, … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: Juno”
Dirty Dancing This is a guest post by Meghan Harvey. I was born in 1977, four years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. Though I would see the moral debate play out many times over the course of my life, the legality of a woman’s right to choose was always a … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: Dirty Dancing”
Kerry Washington and David Ramsay in Mother and Child This is a guest post by Candice Frederick. While many continue to castigate the HBO series, Girls, for its lack of female diversity (with good reason), I’d like to look back at a 2009 film which gave voices to an assortment of female characters, a gem … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: Mother and Child”
This is a guest post by Lee Skallerup Bessette. When I saw the call for submissions for this month’s feature on abortion and reproductive rights, I knew right away that I had to write about Degrassi. I grew up in Canada (suburban Montreal to be precise) and Degrassi was the show everyone watched. Even if … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: 16 and Pregnant: Degrassi and Abortion”
This is a guest review by Tom Houseman. As abortion has become more accepted and less taboo in mainstream America—despite Republican lawmakers doing everything they can to appeal Roe v. Wade—films about pregnancies have had difficulty depicting its characters talking about or even considering abortion. If the movie is about pregnancy, and the journey that … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: Fingernails and Shmushmorshmins: Abortion and Privilege in ‘Knocked Up,’ ‘Juno,’ and ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’”
This piece on Undesired, by Martyna Przybysz, originally appeared at Bitch Flicks on March 26, 2012 as part of our Biopic and Documentary Series. ———- It was a simple coincidence that led me to discovering this short film that you are about to watch. I was looking for a powerful story about women, in which … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: Undesired”
This is a guest post by Erik Bondurant. Long before established reproductive rights, including the right to contraception and abortions, were being challenged, there was a long battle to earn these rights in the first place. Half a century before Griswold v. Connecticut would mark a real turning point for reproductive rights, director Lois Weber … Continue reading “Reproduction & Abortion Week: ‘Where Are My Children?’”
