On Wednesday, March 23, I attended a special viewing of the 2011 Documentary “Miss Representation” at Philadelphia’s New Century Trust located at 1307 Locust Street. New Century Trust is an organization that is dedicated to helping women empower themselves and each other. The official vision/slogan of New Century Trust is “To improve the educational, economic and social status of women and girls.” [1]I chose this event because March was an extremely busy month for me, and this was one of the only events that could fit into my schedule. It was very easy to find the event, as it was one of the first to appear when I searched for women’s history events in Philadelphia. I had to pay $10 to attend, which seemed a little unnecessary at first, but I understood why once I realized they are a non-profit organization that operates solely to improve women’s status in society.
Upon arriving, I was asked to sign in and explain how I found out about the screening. I was then led into the main room of the house where they were serving food and drinks. There were about 30 women in attendance, most of which were in their late 30s to mid 40s and working for different non-profits around the city. I attended the event alone, so I initially felt out of place, but eventually some of the women came up to introduce themselves in an effort to make me feel welcomed. After about 45 minutes of socializing, we were all led upstairs to view the movie. They did not give much background on the film before screening it, and only offered a question and answer session afterwards. The documentary focused on the ways in which women are dehumanized in the media, politics, and in society in general. It explained the many ways in which women’s contributions to history often swept under the rug or demoted. According to the project’s official website, “The media is selling young people the idea that girls’ and women’s value lies in their youth, beauty, and sexuality and not in their capacity as leaders. Boys learn that their success is tied to dominance, power, and aggression. We must value people as whole human beings, not gendered stereotypes.”[2] There were endless examples of the hyper-sexualization of women in pop culture today, which was extremely interesting to acknowledge especially since it is something I am so used to seeing as normalized. This was perhaps the most informative part of my visit, because it explained the correlation between the historical oppression of women and how it led to how women are treated in media and so widely perceived today.
The question and answer session after the movie was brief, but also extremely informative. It allowed us to discuss some of the issues mentioned in the documentary more closely, and hear some of the personal stories of the women who could personally resonate with issues described in the film. These personal accounts really helped put the history into context, and gave us a better feel of how important women’s history still is.
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to New Century Trust. I felt very welcome, and being one of the youngest women there, I felt as though the other women who attended were impressed with my interest in the importance of women’s history. I do, however, have a few critiques to offer. First of all, when I arrived everyone was dressed semi- professionally. There was nothing wrong with this, beside the fact that I was not notified. I showed up in a flannel shirt, jeans, and old sneakers. It made me feel out of place in the beginning but as I said before, the women in attendance were very welcoming. Eventually the feeling of alienation faded away, but I would have preferred to know this earlier so I could have been prepared. The only other critique I have is that the organization failed to really put the documentary into context before the viewing. I had heard about the documentary before, but it still would have been nice to get a concrete background on what we were about to see, and why it was important.. Of course the documentary itself was full of women’s history, but getting at least some general background on the film would have made it feel more like a detailed event.
Attending this event was not only a history lesson, but a lesson in sociology as well. Miss representation brought to life some of the ideas mentioned in “Do we still need women’s history” For example, according to the article, “Gender is a tempting and powerful framework. Far more inclusive than the category of women, it raises questions not so much about what women did or did not do, but about how the organization of relationships between men and women established priorities and motivated social and political action.” [3]This was one of the prominent themes in the movie, as it emphasized the importance of not putting the responsibility just on women to improve their status in society, but on men too. Even in the Q&A after the screening, it was brought up that no men attended the event. We discussed how feminism needs to be understood by all genders to advance women in society, much like what Kessler- Harris says in the article.
[1] “Our Vision.” New Century Trust: Committed to Women and Girls Since 1882. Accessed March 31, 2016. http://www.newcenturytrust.org/who-we-are.
[2] “The Issue – The Representation Project.” The Representation Project. Accessed March 31, 2016. http://therepresentationproject.org/film/miss-representation/the-issue/.
[3] Harris, Alice K. Do We Still Need Women’s History? December 7, 2007. Accessed March 31, 2016. https://blackboard.temple.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4823111-dt-content-rid-50213064_2/courses/LA_MN_HIST_3225_1901956_639/Do We Still Need Womens History.pdf.