I am watching Guess Who's Coming to Dinner http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061735/. I think maybe every time I watch Guess Who's Coming to Dinner I blog, but maybe not. It was a very brave, heroic, and dramatic topic to address in 1967. It tells a great story, has great actors and actresses, and gives us hope for the future.
I went to a workshop today. Slightly off the topic, but making a comment about social values, the presenter mentioned that 30 years ago, Iceland elected the first woman president of the world. So, a generation of Icelandic people have grown up knowing that women can do anything they want to do . She added that the Nordic people have no concept of racism, sexism, (and something else.)
The point is, she talked about the social change that can occur because of events in our lives. We cannot legislate changes in emotions and ideas, but we can legislate changes in behavior, and those behavior changes can lead to changes in ideas and emotions.
I have seen so many changes in my life time. I am so grateful that so many changes have occurred. I am so grateful that we have made so many strides for a more just and fair and equitable world. I know we have a long way to go. But I am glad to be living in these times.
I mean, we have an African American President, Barak Obama. He was elected for a second term, so we know that his election was not a fluke. He was elected a second time, so his biggest accomplishment during his first term, the Affordable Health Care Act, was not abhorred to the extent he could not get re-elected.
I am getting ready to watch Schindler's List http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/. I had no idea that is was made 20 years ago. It is a heart wrenching and moving movie, and another movie that addresses social change. Only this was horrible, wretched social change: the genocide of Jews in Germany during World War II. And, the way one man defied the authorities.
There are other movies about saving the enemies of Germany in Europe during World War II. One of my favorites is The Scarlet and The Black http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086251/, about a Roman Catholic priest who saves prisoners of war, downed pilots and Italians from the Germans.
Recently, I read an article about South Pacific http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/. The article said that when it played in Atlanta, Georgia, the reaction to the song "You've Got to Be Taught" was so outraged and negative that there were many who wanted it outlawed in Georgia.
It is Oscar season. This is the time of year when the TV channels show wonderful past Oscar winner movies. I really appreciate the movies that are about social change.
Showing posts with label women's rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women's rights. Show all posts
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Thursday, March 8, 2012
That Woman!
I frequently peruse the 7 day book shelf at the library, but often do not get a 7 day book, depending upon what I know my reading schedule to be. Last week, I looked at the 7 day shelf, and saw the title That Woman http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8735153/That-Woman-The-Life-of-Wallis-Simpson-Duchess-of-Windsor-by-Anne-Sebba.html and knew immediately about whom it referred.
Years ago, when Princess Diana and Prince Charles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana,_Princess_of_Wales were all the publicity rage, an older co-worker of mine talked about the abdication of Edward VIII because he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson. My co-worker always referred to her as "that woman." When I saw the book title, and knew immediately about whom the book was written, it struck me as how monumental an event the entire saga of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII was and is.
At the mystery book club meeting tonight, while we were visiting, I mentioned reading this book, and several of the members immediately knew, without a hint from me, who "that woman" was.
As I read the book, it became obvious to me that this story was more than a love story, or gossip magazine fodder. The story of the king who abdicated his throne is the story of a major shift in the way politics would be handled in the United Kingdom during that period in history.
Of course, the story had so many levels: it said something about the way Edward VIII perceived himself and what he thought was his power. It said something about how the Royal Family behaved in public and in private. It said something about how the common people of the United Kingdom perceived the Royal Family. It said something about the character and persona of Wallis Simpson, and Edward VIII. It spoke volumes about the double standard of the role, rights, responsibilities, freedoms, expectations and enfranchisement of women during that time period.
Wallis Simpson, like so many women prior to that time period, during that time period, and since that time period was stuck being dependent upon men for her welfare and well being. Although women's rights have come a long way since then, many women still face that stifling dependency on men for their existence.
There are many lessons to be learned from this story. I think one of the most important for women is to appreciate and safeguard the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities we have gained by the struggles of women who came before us. And, to help promote those freedoms, rights and responsibilities so women, who still in this day and age do not have them, may move closer and closer to having them.
We forget about how much the United Kingdom changed during the 20th century, when so many of the countries became independent of England, but still in some ways are more or less loyal to England and the monarchy. It is certainly a different way of life and different attitude than what we have in the United States. Yet the lessons regarding women's rights ring true and solid in both cultures, and around the world.
One person can change history, intentionally or inadvertently, especially because of the impact that one person has on those that person impacts. What a lesson!
Years ago, when Princess Diana and Prince Charles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana,_Princess_of_Wales were all the publicity rage, an older co-worker of mine talked about the abdication of Edward VIII because he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson. My co-worker always referred to her as "that woman." When I saw the book title, and knew immediately about whom the book was written, it struck me as how monumental an event the entire saga of Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII was and is.
At the mystery book club meeting tonight, while we were visiting, I mentioned reading this book, and several of the members immediately knew, without a hint from me, who "that woman" was.
As I read the book, it became obvious to me that this story was more than a love story, or gossip magazine fodder. The story of the king who abdicated his throne is the story of a major shift in the way politics would be handled in the United Kingdom during that period in history.
Of course, the story had so many levels: it said something about the way Edward VIII perceived himself and what he thought was his power. It said something about how the Royal Family behaved in public and in private. It said something about how the common people of the United Kingdom perceived the Royal Family. It said something about the character and persona of Wallis Simpson, and Edward VIII. It spoke volumes about the double standard of the role, rights, responsibilities, freedoms, expectations and enfranchisement of women during that time period.
Wallis Simpson, like so many women prior to that time period, during that time period, and since that time period was stuck being dependent upon men for her welfare and well being. Although women's rights have come a long way since then, many women still face that stifling dependency on men for their existence.
There are many lessons to be learned from this story. I think one of the most important for women is to appreciate and safeguard the freedoms, rights, and responsibilities we have gained by the struggles of women who came before us. And, to help promote those freedoms, rights and responsibilities so women, who still in this day and age do not have them, may move closer and closer to having them.
We forget about how much the United Kingdom changed during the 20th century, when so many of the countries became independent of England, but still in some ways are more or less loyal to England and the monarchy. It is certainly a different way of life and different attitude than what we have in the United States. Yet the lessons regarding women's rights ring true and solid in both cultures, and around the world.
One person can change history, intentionally or inadvertently, especially because of the impact that one person has on those that person impacts. What a lesson!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Women's Rights and Historical Novels
I am currently reading two series of historical fiction mysteries: one by Tasha Alexander
http://www.tashaalexander.com/index.html set in late 19th Century England, about Emily Ashton, a fairly liberal, for the time, independent thinking woman.
The second series is by Miriam Grace Monfredo, http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/miriam-grace-monfredo/must-maiden-die.htm set in Seneca Falls, New York shortly before the War
Between the North and the South. Seneca Falls was a place where women's rights suffragettes were active, and was part of the underground railroad.
Both series discuss the constraints on women during these periods in history: their lack of rights, their dependency on husbands for support and standing in society, their lack of credence as capable professionals.
We take for granted how far women have come in the equal rights realm. I remember as a yound child there were many things I could not do because I was a girl. In junior high, I wanted to take shop. I wanted my parents to go to the school board and open the opportunity for me. My father said he would do that if my mother agreed. She did not. Some few years later, shop was opened to girls.
When I was in high school, I wanted to take the NRA rifle safety course. This was not an original idea. My neighbor, Kate, had taken the course some few years before, and she was my role model for this. My father had to go into the session the first night and clear the way for me. The instructors of the session literally giggled at having a girl in the class. Many of the participants were male students in my class, and they knew I was smart. I passed all the tests with 100%. The instructors were chastened by my performance.
The point is women have come a long way. When I bought my house in 1992, I was not concerned about credit or having the right to sign for property, but these were issues as late as the 1980s.
We are not just fortunate to have the rights we have as women. History is replete with stories of the sacrifice and sufferening that suffragetes endured to enable women of the future to have the rights and the closer equality that we have. As women, it is important to be mindful of past suffering that gave us our place in the social, political and employment strata.
http://www.tashaalexander.com/index.html set in late 19th Century England, about Emily Ashton, a fairly liberal, for the time, independent thinking woman.
The second series is by Miriam Grace Monfredo, http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/miriam-grace-monfredo/must-maiden-die.htm set in Seneca Falls, New York shortly before the War
Between the North and the South. Seneca Falls was a place where women's rights suffragettes were active, and was part of the underground railroad.
Both series discuss the constraints on women during these periods in history: their lack of rights, their dependency on husbands for support and standing in society, their lack of credence as capable professionals.
We take for granted how far women have come in the equal rights realm. I remember as a yound child there were many things I could not do because I was a girl. In junior high, I wanted to take shop. I wanted my parents to go to the school board and open the opportunity for me. My father said he would do that if my mother agreed. She did not. Some few years later, shop was opened to girls.
When I was in high school, I wanted to take the NRA rifle safety course. This was not an original idea. My neighbor, Kate, had taken the course some few years before, and she was my role model for this. My father had to go into the session the first night and clear the way for me. The instructors of the session literally giggled at having a girl in the class. Many of the participants were male students in my class, and they knew I was smart. I passed all the tests with 100%. The instructors were chastened by my performance.
The point is women have come a long way. When I bought my house in 1992, I was not concerned about credit or having the right to sign for property, but these were issues as late as the 1980s.
We are not just fortunate to have the rights we have as women. History is replete with stories of the sacrifice and sufferening that suffragetes endured to enable women of the future to have the rights and the closer equality that we have. As women, it is important to be mindful of past suffering that gave us our place in the social, political and employment strata.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Woman's Suffrage Movement
For the mystery book club that meets at Barnes and Noble every second Thursday in Lubbock, Texas, we recently read a book that touched on the woman's suffrage movement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation. The book was Seneca Falls Inheritance by Miriam Grace Monfredo http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/miriam-grace-monfredo/.
Among other things, the book addressed the woman's suffrage movement. Can you imagine? Women were not granted the right to vote, by the Constitution of the United States of America, until 1920, by the 19th Amendment http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=63.
If you read, as I have in the past, the atrocities suffered by the women who were campaigning for the right to vote, you will be appalled, sickened, and horrified. What horrifies me more is that women currently do not vote, because they do not think their vote is significant or important. What the suffragettes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette went through to secure for future generations of women the right to vote was horrific. So why women do not vote, for what ever reason, is a travesty, a breaking of faith with those who came before and suffered so we could vote.
Among other things, the book addressed the woman's suffrage movement. Can you imagine? Women were not granted the right to vote, by the Constitution of the United States of America, until 1920, by the 19th Amendment http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=63.
If you read, as I have in the past, the atrocities suffered by the women who were campaigning for the right to vote, you will be appalled, sickened, and horrified. What horrifies me more is that women currently do not vote, because they do not think their vote is significant or important. What the suffragettes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette went through to secure for future generations of women the right to vote was horrific. So why women do not vote, for what ever reason, is a travesty, a breaking of faith with those who came before and suffered so we could vote.
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