School's Out for Winter . . .

My semester is, for all intents and purposes, over. I have one final set of papers to grade, but I’m pretty much done. All in all, I had great students this fall, including a class that will probably go down in history as my best ever. Here are few highlights you might enjoy yourself.

1) Watching Iron Jawed Angels. This HBO movie, starring Hillary Swank and Angelica Houston, dramatizes the last push for women’s suffrage. At times, I find it problematic, especially the fictional romance the writers concocted between Alice Paul (Swank) with Patrick Dempsey and the Sex and the City type dialogue which surfaces from time to time. But it has a powerful effect on students, who suddenly understand that that women actually had to FIGHT for the vote well into the twentieth century. My students laughed when the suffragists turn Wilson’s own words against the Germans back on him, felt horrified when Paul is force fed while on a hunger strike in jail, and yelled “Oh no he didn’t” when the woman are attacked during a suffrage parade. At the end, they cheered out loud. Watching the movie during an election year was especially fun, as a lot of students suddenly felt much more engaged with the voting process.

2) Watching Margaret Cho’s I’m the One that I Want. I have screened Cho’s one-woman show for several classes, and it is always a huge hit. In graphic, racy, and very funny language, she recounts her disastrous experience as the first Asian-American woman to get her own sitcom. ABC made her lose 30 pounds in less than a month and hired an “Asian consultant” to help Cho—the daughter of Korean immigrants—learn to act more ethnically appropriate. The show is hysterical and moving, and manages to teach students about the construction of race, class, and gender while keeping them rolling in the aisles. Every semester, at least one student goes out of her or his way to thank me for showing this video.

3) Watching Frontline: The Last Abortion Clinic. This documentary first aired on PBS in November 2005. It has been a God-send to me, as I had previously found that discussions of abortion in my Introduction to Women’s Studies classes had a tendency to disintegrate into “you’re a sinner” and “you’re an idiot.” The film lays out the methods the religious right has chipped away at Roe vs. Wade over the past three decades, examines the ways both sides use the language of “women’s health” to argue their case, and puts the abortion issue within the larger context of American poverty. It treats both sides with respect, although I think it skews pro-choice. After watching the film, I always first ask students which side they think the film is biased towards. Surprisingly, they seem to split down the middle, and pro-lifers often think it is very pro-life. In any case, it provokes thoughtful, engaged conversation. You can watch the entire thing online.

4) Reading Free to Fight. Free to Fight is a self-defense project put together in 1994 by several women who lived in Portland, Oregon. As the website explains, “Designed as a double LP/CD and book, Free to Fight is a collection of music, art, spoken word, success stories, and comics that represent many of the ways women and girls protect our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls in a patriarchal society. Two women's self defense teachers, Anna Lobianco and Staci Cotler, also provide instruction so you can sit around with friends or by yourself, read the book, listen to the CD, and practice your moves!” You can see the entire book and listen to the music at the site. The day we discussed the project, one student declared, “All girls should read this book.” Another used some of the strategies in it to deflect the unwanted attentions of a drunken fratboy at a party, and then yelled “Free to Fight” after him as he scurried away. One of the creators was Neilson’s friend Anna, who passed away this summer. I’m sure wherever she is, she is proud.