Iron Jawed Angels

 The film discussed many different identities within identifying as a woman. We can also see these in today's world with many different movements fighting for the same goal in different ways. In the film, women of color were not fully accepted into the white women's suffrage movement that was portrayed. In particular, the scene with Ida B. Wells coming into their organization building and being shut down in a way. Women of color were not apart of this movement and we discussed in class that movements often have to be very specific about who they are fighting for and for what. If movements try and help everyone at one time, it can get too hard and can result in nothing or more loss. Our in-class discussion made me think of the Black Lives Matter movement and how it was predominantly centered around Black men. Black women were put on the back burner and a lot of murders that were being seen on the news and were the sparks of protests were only around Black men. Women are again waiting for men to first get more recognition and today we see this within sexualities as well. People who identify as a person of color, a woman, and apart of the LGBTQ community have been fighting to have any sort of voice in the past few years. We are witnessing a lot more recognition going towards these groups, but they continue to be shut down. In the film, education, immigration status, and family status all played a large role in the characters commitment to the movement as well. One of the main women was an immigrant and a mother. She had to take into consideration whether or not the fight was worth it to in a way leave her family and her job to fight for possibly better life. Some women were much more educated on politics which played a huge role in the advancement of the movement. Family status in terms of economic and of who was in the family also played a deciding role if they were comfortable disrupting their normal lives like the Senator's wife had to make.  Making this decision was really hard and is still hard to do for a lot of people today even thought it might be more safe because of the updated police systems and what is socially acceptable. Though true, there are still organizations such as the Proud Boys who are not afraid to go against a group with a lot of violence because they differ in opinion. Everyone that steps up for what they believe in is taking a huge leap of courage, and I think that is what the film ultimately portrayed. 

Alice Paul is having a moment: Column

Comments

  1. Catherine BolzendahlFebruary 5, 2023 at 3:19 PM

    Good points - arguably one of the difficulties in advancing women's rights is that women comprise a very diverse set of interests and these intersectional clashes prevent a shared group consciousness.

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