We’re back with this month’s Equality Now Feminist Culture Club, bringing you a roundup of recommendations from our staff and supporters of books, movies, TV shows, and podcasts that act as a megaphone for women’s rights. Want to read more? Head to our Feminist Culture Club archive.
Books
Matrescence: On the Metamorphosis of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Motherhood by Lucy Jones
This book charts the monumental impact of having children from every angle. Supporting her own experience with scientific research, Jones shows the huge changes going on in the maternal mind, brain, and body and asks why it is so little talked about.
Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and in Practice by Stephenie Foster & Susan A Markham
The Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and in Practice outlines the foundations of feminist foreign policy and furthers the global conversation around how countries can develop and execute approaches to foreign policy and national security that go beyond conflict prevention and resolution and use a feminist or gender lens to increase gender equality and women’s leadership in the security sector.
From Here: A Memoir by Luma Mufleh
In her coming-of-age memoir, refugee advocate Luma Mufleh writes of her tumultuous journey to reconcile her identity as a gay Muslim woman and a proud Arab-turned-American refugee.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
This book follows Elizabeth Lott, a gifted research chemist fighting to prove herself in traditionally male arenas in the years – late 50s and early 60s – before second-wave feminism took off. Apple + TV Series coming later this year.
Who killed Berta Cáceres? by Nina Lakhani’s
Nina Lakhani’s Who Killed Berta Cáceres tells the story of aggressions against the Lenca people in Honduras, the ravaging of the Bajo Aguán for profit, and the impunity that reigns supreme in a place wholly surrendered to global capital, the United States, and to institutions like the World Bank.
On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen
This book is a groundbreaking exploration of the ancient rules women unwittingly follow in order to be considered “good,” revealing how these impulses – often lauded as unselfish, distinctly feminine instincts – are actually ingrained in us by a culture that reaps the benefits, via an extraordinarily effective collection of mores known as the Seven Deadly Sins.
TV Programs
This series is set in the 1970s, around the second wave of feminism and centres around Joyce Prigger’s dream – to publish her feminist magazine and the compromises she must make to achieve this.
The Morning Show examines the characters and culture behind a network broadcast morning news program. After allegations of sexual misconduct, the male co-anchor of the program is forced off the show. Aspects of the #MeToo movement are examined from multiple perspectives as more and more information comes out regarding said misconduct. Season 3 premieres September 13.
This psychological thriller follows a woman’s quest to rebuild her life after a suicide attempt and her struggle to understand all the things that led up to that moment.
Harlem follows a group of four strong-minded black women who met in college and navigated their 20s together. Now embracing their 30s, Camille, Quinn, Angie, and Tye are trying to find their place in the world, all while balancing the other stuff.
Films
#Shout is a documentary that explores the #MeToo movement, placing it in the overarching gender and patriarchy discourse.
Catching a Pervert: Sexual Assault for Sale
This BBC Eye documentary uncovers websites selling thousands of videos of men sexually assaulting women on trains, buses and other public places across East Asia.
Barbie defies expectations and offers powerful insights about female existence. A particular scene by actress America Ferrera about the gendered expectations placed on women and the value of play is a revelatory truth bomb. The film’s director, Greta Gerwig, was recently named the highest-grossing female director of all time at the domestic box office.
The Stroll documents trans history in New York City from the perspective of Black and Latina trans women who had been in the sex industry in the Meatpacking District during the 1980s and 1990s, in an area known as The Stroll.
Podcasts
Statelessness and Exclusion Podcast
The “Patriarchy” episode by guest speakers Catherine Harrington and Patricia Low discusses patriarchy and its role in creating statelessness. The episode will analyse deep-seated patriarchy, how it views and constructs identity, political participation and gendered roles, and how this creates layers of discrimination against women—women are often seen in opposition to men, and their rights and lives are at the discretion of men.
The narrative series weaves together the voices of Yale Fertility Center patients to tell a powerful and textured story about the treatment of women in medical settings and what happens when one of the most established fertility clinics in the country is held accountable for failing to protect its patients.
The “Barbie Part 1: Welcome to the Dollhouse” episode asks: how did Barbie – a voluptuous fashion doll for children – become the It girl of the toy aisle in the early 1960s, and what has it taken Mattel to keep it that way?
This intimate, bold and taboo-busting podcast series explores the menstrual cycle. The science, drama, history, personal stories and politics in between.
Do you have any suggestions for us to share next month? Please send them to us at supporters@equalitynow.org; we’d love to hear from you!
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