She's Beautiful When She's Angry

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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In 1973, Esquire magazine devoted a centerfold to “Fifty Women Who Are Cute When They’re Mad,” which included Feminist authors Barbara Ehrenreich and Gloria Steinem. That made them mad. Which made them cute, we can suppose.

In 2014, the Women’s Movement took that theme as its own when activist Mary Dore directed “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,” a documentary about some of the women involved in the second wave of the feminist movement in the United States.

“This year’s film, ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,’ takes a look back at the wave of feminism in the mid 1960s in hopes of re-energizing attendees,” says Darlene Thomas, President of Key West National Organization for Women. “With many of the successes accomplished being pushed backwards, we need to pull together and push forward. The generations who grew up with protections on abortion, don’t know about the time when women could not have a credit card in their name, etc. need to wake up.”

Prior to the film’s 6 p.m. showing, KWNOW will have local organizations in the lobby that represent core issues of NOW as we continue to fight: reproductive Justice, ending violence again women, ending bigotry of the LGBTQIA, racial Justice,, Constitutional Equality through the Equal Rights Amendment (introduced 100 years ago), economic Justice Local.

The film tells the story of “the brilliant, often outrageous women who founded the feminist movement of the 1960s.” It showcases many of the key concerns during the years 1966-1971 – women’s issues that include employment discrimination, affordable childcare, reproductive health, and sexuality.

“These women changed the world,” says Mary Dore.

In sharing their story, Dore uses a mixture of archival footage, press clippings, interviews, and readings of contemporary works. This approach delivers an interesting and lively history that holds your attention.

The film begins by outlining the social climate of the 1960s, describing early events of the women’s liberation, including the publication of Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” and the founding of the National Organization for Women.

Also featured in the documentary are the various Boston Women’s Health Book Collective authors of “Our Bodies, Ourselves,” a landmark book about women’s health and sexuality.

You’ll also hear from ex-members of the Jane Collective, an underground abortion counseling service in Chicago that operated from 1969 to 1973.

“She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry” ends with coverage of the 1970 Women’s Strike for Equality, a rally that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment, which gave American women the right to vote.

As one viewer put it, “I lived through this period, so I was familiar with much of the material portrayed. However, today, 40 years later, many people may not realize that what we take for granted had to be fought for meeting by meeting, petition by petition, publication by publication, and demonstration by demonstration. This is an important lesson, especially for people who take what the feminists accomplished for granted.”

Another added, “This film offers a peek at what life was like for women before the mid-1960’s and helps us understand the origins of the concept of gender equality that many of us take for granted. We are also reminded that much of what was won decades ago is once again in jeopardy.”

“You’ll likely leave the theater amazed, and yes, beautifully angry, that this vast breadth of human courage and perseverance has been mostly omitted from mainstream American history,” says Amanda Scherker of the Huffington Post.

As Scherker summed it up, this is “the badass feminist history you never learned in school.”

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com