By Sean Moran
At the October 7 London premiere of the film Suffragette, several activists from the group Sisters Uncut crashed the red carpet and released smoke canisters as part of a protest against recent budget cuts to facilities that offer care to victims of domestic violence. When asked why they chose this film for the protest, one activist replied that the film’s “celebratory sense” has created a “delusional element” that feminism has accomplished its goals.
Suffragette, set to begin a limited American release on October 23, tells the story of one mother’s experiences as she gets caught up in the female suffrage movement in early 20th century Britain. The movie stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter (who also happens to be the real life great granddaughter of H.H. Asquith, the Prime Minister who opposed female suffrage), and Meryl Streep as the leader of the suffrage movement, Emmeline Pankhurst.
A movie can be effective in getting an ideological message across, but how much can you ignore or even distort actual history?
Along with the protest at the premiere, the film has also received some backlash against a promotional photoshoot where the actresses wore t-shirts that read “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave.” Critics immediately began criticizing this quote for perceived racial insensitivity. Some pointed out that Emmeline Pankhurst and many other suffragettes were not advocating for black female suffrage too.
As much as people try to argue that the Pankhurst was a progressive feminist, the truth is that she wasn’t. Pankhurst was aided by her two daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, the former much in her mother’s image, while the latter had much more radical beliefs. Neither Emmeline nor Christabel believed women should wear pants or short hair, and both detested the rise of the Labour Party that represented the working class. Emeline also believed women should remain chaste, and all but denounced her daughter Sylvia when she had a child out of wedlock.
This raises an important issue with historical films: is it okay to force historical facts to fit a modern narrative? A movie can be effective in getting an ideological message across, but how much can you ignore or even distort actual history?
It would seem more authentic if characters did have inconsistent beliefs about equality, believing men and women should be equal but only some men and women (white, educated, upper class, etc.).
So in a way, the protestors at the premiere were right; this film shouldn’t be seen as the epitome of feminist ideology (Note: I have not seen the actual movie yet, and the film could totally address these issues).
Having said all that, I think this film will provide an adequately objective viewpoint. In an interview with Variety’s Kristopher Tapley, screenwriter Abi Morgan admitted that she didn’t want to do a feminist film.
“I don’t think any of us said, ‘Let’s make a feminist movie.’ I think we kind of went, ‘This is exciting. We never see women blow up buildings. We never see them militant.’”
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Why Pope Francis Is About To Deliver A Radical Message In Mexico
Pope Francis will address the problems plaguing Mexico, from corruption to drug crime, during his six-day visit to the world’s second-largest Roman Catholic country. Vatican City (dpa) – Pope Francis, the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church, is set for a six-day visit to Mexico during which he is expected to speak out against… Read More
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Meet IGNITE: The Organization Working To Get Millennial Women To Take Over Politics
There are only 104 women in the whole of the Congress, making up only 19.4% of the 535 combined members of both houses.
That dizzying gender-gap in politics was what inspired Dr. Anne Moses to create IGNITE, a non-profit organization that helps empower young women who want to run for public office.
Moses, the founder and president of IGNITE has been determined to fight for women’s equal political representation from a young age.
When she was 23 years old Moses watched as Anita Hill got attacked by scores of Senators on national television after she claimed that future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. All the while, Moses noticed that there was not a single woman on the Senate Judiciary committee.
Moses realized that to reach political equity, young women had to be trained to be leaders who are ready to run for office.
She started IGNITE in 2009 with the purpose of training young women to think critically about policy and to become civically engaged.
“Young women deserve the most amount of support and mentorship to walk the path to politics,” Sara Guillermo, the Chief Program Officer for IGNITE said in an interview with RISE NEWS.
The founding states of IGNITE are California, Texas and Colorado but the organization has been expanding over the years.
Young women from high schools, colleges and universities receive training via high school curriculum, college chapters, annual conferences, and elected officials events.
Guillermo is thankful to these pioneering young women who have taken the opportunity to develop professionally and digest policy topics that they care about.
IGNITE trains young women between the ages of 14 and 22.
“When we get them younger, we get them to stay with us and the impact we create for them is incredible and valuable,” Guillermo said.
The issue of gender equality has been present in the world for several decades and yet the rate of progress has been painfully slow.
Thus, the question still remains, why do we have so few women running for elected office?
Guillermo’s answer to this is that they are not asked to, “they [women] are not socialized enough” in the idea of running for office.
IGNITE is an outlet were young women can see that they have the capacity to lead and make a change.
The response so far has been extremely positive as the organization has trained over 5,000 young women in their own communities from various backgrounds.
Over the years of teaching the curriculum, Guillermo has had some beautiful success stories.
One of them is of an undocumented young woman that had the leadership and drive to get involved in politics, but also had many other barriers in her life.
As an undocumented person she was prevented from studying abroad or when applying to college she had limited opportunities. She could not apply for FAFSA for example.
Thanks to IGNITE she had the opportunity to take her first plane ride and what a ride it was.
She flew to Washington D.C. and met with some of President Obama’s advisors.
According to Guillermo, she is currently attending college and starting an IGNITE chapter there.
In the future the founders of the group are thinking of expanding.
They will host seven conferences in seven cities and will launch fellowships programs to lead national college work.
Guillermo has advice for young people who have a passion for making a change in their communities or for being involved in politics.
“Try everything at least once, find a mentor to talk to, don’t be scared to try something different, we walk around with fear and not wanting to do certain things, just do it,” Guillermo said.
To learn more you can visit the group’s website: http://www.IGNITEnational.org
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Cover Photo Credit: IGNITE/ Submitted
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John Oliver Brings Americans Up To Speed On Today’s Canadian Election, Bashes Stephen Harper
While most Americans probably have no idea that there is a very important election going on in Canada today, John Oliver took to the air last night to try to bring us all up to speed.
And it was pretty hilarious.
Oliver made it clear that current Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper is unfit for another term in office because of his regressive policies regarding minority rights and marijuana use among other things.
And while he poked fun at the two other main candidates for Prime Minister, Oliver saved his most devastating scorn for the current leader of the country.
If you are in a time crunch, we recommend jumping ahead to the 13:20 mark so you can see a really funny cameo from Mike Myers. Let’s just say that he touches on a certain landmark moment.
Watch: John Oliver begs Canada not to vote for Stephen Harper again.
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Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Youtube (HBO)
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