As a policy school dedicated to the public good and producing civically engaged and socially responsible leaders, the School is committed to creating an environment of diversity, inclusion and belonging for its faculty, staff, students and surrounding communities. To that end, here are recommendations to observe Women's History Month.
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Who is it about? A group of office workers in Boston who started a movement to improve the working conditions of fellow women in the workplace and ensure protections against their male bosses.
What will you learn? How the modern-day workplace came to be for women, thanks to the brave women in the 1970s who fought for better pay, more opportunities and an end to sexual harassment. This inspired Jane Fonda to create the film 9 to 5.
Feminists: What Were They Thinking?
Who is it about? A group of women whose photos were published in the 1977 photo book Emergence. These women led the charge in shedding cultural restrictions and standing up for women’s equality.
What will you learn? A clearer picture of the second-wave feminism movement of the 1970s. Viewers will have a better understanding of the contributions that these women have made to the feminist movement and how they changed their own lives, as well as many other women’s lives all across the country.
Who is it about? Supporters for abortion rights and the people who oppose it, discussing the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.
What will you learn? The ins and outs of the 1973 case that established a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion, and how abortion became such a politicized topic throughout the years. Viewers will hear from the conservative voices working to overturn the case, in addition to those who actively support and work to protect the historic decision.
Who is it about? Four brave women — including US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — who ran against big-money politicians in the 2018 midterm elections and their fight to make a change in the nation’s capital.
What will you learn? Just how taxing and rewarding running for public office can be. Knock Down the House gives an inside look at all of the hard work that goes into becoming a federal politician and attempting to make a serious change when it feels like the odds are against you.
If you’re looking for documentaries about Latina heroines, start with Dolores, the 2017 film about the life and activism of Chicana labor union activist Dolores Huerta. The doc, executive produced by Carlos Santana and Benjamin Bratt, and directed by Bratt’s brother, Peter, delves into how the 90-year-old co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later named the United Farm Workers), her famous “Sí se puede” rallying cry and her role in the women’s rights movement. Including interviews with Angela Davis, Gloria Steinem, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and more, Dolores celebrates the history and ongoing activism of one of the country’s most critical civil rights leaders. Watch Dolores on Amazon Prime.
The life story of the beloved late Supreme Court justice and champion for equal rights is the focus of this Oscar-nominated documentary.
Fly With Me tells the story of the pioneering women who became flight attendants at a time when single women were unable to order a drink, eat alone in a restaurant, own a credit card or get a prescription for birth control. The job offered unheard-of opportunities for travel and independence. These women were on the frontlines of the battle to assert gender equality and transform the workplace.
After experiencing neglect and traumatic loss while pregnant in prison, Pamela Winn becomes an activist, leading hundreds of thousands to support the Dignity Bill to end the shackling of pregnant people in prison. "WINN" exposes the horrifying experience that incarcerated pregnant people endure and documents Pamela’s mission to end shackling in the South.
Frida (2002)
The life of iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo — as portrayed in director Julie Taymor's eponymous biopic — boldly resists simple classifications, depicting Kahlo's pride in bucking gender norms through her art, her fashion and even her grooming. Salma Hayek earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of the artist.
The Woman King (2022)
The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Inspired by true events, The Woman King follows the epic journey of General Nanisca (Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and prepares them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.
On the Basis of Sex (2018)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a struggling attorney and new mother who faces adversity and numerous obstacles in her fight for equal rights. When Ruth takes on a groundbreaking tax case with her husband, attorney Martin Ginsburg, she knows it could change the direction of her career and the way the courts view gender discrimination.
A League of Their Own (1992)
A League Of Their Own is a rare spin on the sports movie genre usually claimed by male-dominated sports teams. The movie confronts sexism in sports and in daily life and takes on issues with women in sports that are still an important discussion today. It’s a piece of history, a good present-day talking point and full of entertaining ensemble performances. Oh, and… “there’s no crying in baseball!”
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What Makes Us Stronger features the voices of courageous women who have lived through war and conflict. Like so many women survivors of war, they have found the strength and resilience within them to keep going.
Kimberlé Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate known for introducing the world to intersectional theory. Intersectionality refers to the process in which different forms of discrimination overlap as social identities such as race, class and gender overlap. You can now hear Crenshaw’s astute insights through the medium of podcasts.
'I’m a feminist, but...' That’s how each episode of this strikingly honest podcast begins. The Guilty Feminist explores the hypocrisies and insecurities that lie within us all, distilling the pressure to be the ‘perfect feminist’. It’s comforting, relatable, funny and features awesome guests.
If you’re looking for some career inspiration, this is the perfect podcast for you. Next Women Generation features the stories of young leaders working in business, nonprofit and public sectors. Find out how they achieved their success and what advice they want to pass on to other women.
This podcast takes us on a trip throughout the years, exploring the women who made history or were forgotten by it. It’s the perfect podcast to listen to throughout Women’s History Month.
Read
American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden | Katie Rogers
"Since the Clinton era, shifts in media, politics, and pop culture have all redefined expectations of First Ladies, even as the boundaries set upon them have often remained anachronistic. With sharp insights and dozens of firsthand interviews with major players in the Biden, Obama, Trump, Bush, and Clinton orbits, including Jill Biden and Hillary Clinton, New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers traces the evolution of the role of the twenty-first-century First Lady from a ceremonial figurehead to a powerful political operator, which culminates in the tenure of First Lady Jill Biden."
Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America | Dahlia Lithwick
"After the sudden shock of Donald Trump's victory over Hilary Clinton in 2016, many Americans felt lost and uncertain. It was clear he and his administration were going to pursue a series of retrograde, devastating policies. No one really knew what was going to happen. What could be done?
At that very moment, women all around the country, independently of each other, were springing into action, and they had a common goal: as lawyers, they weren't going to stand by in the face of injustice, while Trump, Mitch McConnell, and the Republican party did everything in their power to remake the judiciary in their own conservative image. Over the next four years, the women marched, ran for office, phone banked, campaigned, and worked tirelessly to hold the line against the most chaotic and malign presidency in living memory."
Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker | A’lelia Bundles
“The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Sarah Breedlove—who would become known as Madam C. J. Walker—was orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, and widowed at twenty. She spent the better part of the next two decades laboring as a washerwoman for $1.50 a week. Then—with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women—everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds: building a storied beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women, and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism.”
It Won’t Always Be Like This | Malaka Gharib
“In this graphic memoir, author Malaka Gharib, an Egyptian Filipina American, recalls her yearly trips to visit her father’s family in Cairo, and her discovery, during the trip she took at age nine, that her father had remarried and she now had an Egyptian stepmother to contend with. She recounts how, over the next 15 summers, her trepidation at her father’s growing family turned into feelings of displacement—she neither looked nor acted like her new family, and her Americanness wasn’t always welcomed on her trips to Egypt. Eventually, she comes to see that she shares more in common with her stepfamily than she first thought.”
Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman | Abby Chava Stein
“Becoming Eve documents Stein’s transition from a deeply religious, male-dominated society to a secular world where she could create her own destiny. Mingling biological, cultural, and faith-based understandings of sex and gender, Stein’s first book is a study in uncompromising self-determination and the magnetic pull of identity.”
Sula | Toni Morrison
“From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner: Two girls who grow up to become women. Two friends who become something worse than enemies. This brilliantly imagined novel brings us the story of Nel Wright and Sula Peace, who meet as children in the small town of Medallion, Ohio.
Nel and Sula’s devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula is a work that overflows with life.”
Until We Are Free: My Fight for Human Rights in Iran | Shirin Ebadi
“The story of Iran is the story of my life,” writes human rights activist and Nobel laureate Ebadi (Iran Awakening) at the start of her memoir, which paints a revealing portrait of the state of political oppression in Iran. It begins with the 1979 revolution, when the author, under Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime, lost her judgeship simply for being a woman. She uses spare, spirited prose to chronicle the start of her career as a pro bono defender of human rights, working with the most vulnerable—women, children, and dissidents—as the government subjected her to an increasing amount of harassment and scrutiny. She was exiled in 2009 on the eve of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term. The Iranian government has since redirected their intimidation schemes toward her family in Iran, coercing her husband and arresting her sister. Yet she continues to fight for Iranians’ human rights, finding refuge in London, where she currently lives. Ebadi’s tone is distinctly more sorrowful toward the end of the book, where she recounts her years away from Iran. She reflects on the Arab Spring and the many ways the Iranian state hides the costs of its policies from its citizens; despite this corruption, she feels homesick and dislocated in exile. She is an inspiring figure, and her suspenseful, evocative story is unforgettable.”
Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the 21st Century | Jasmine Brown
“As a young Black woman considering a path in medicine, Jasmine Brown quickly realized there weren't many other Black women physicians to look to as role models--but not because Black women haven't served as doctors for hundreds of years. No complete history of Black women physicians in the United States exists, and what little mention is made to these women in existing histories is often insubstantial or altogether incorrect. In this work of extensive research, Jasmine Brown champions a new history, penning the long-erased stories of Black women physicians in permanent ink.”