Feminists: What Were They Thinking?

FEMINISTS: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? takes its viewers back to a dynamic moment in the history of American women. Along with the continuing civil rights movement, the turbulent anti-war demonstrations, and Watergate, women were changing in the 1960s and 1970s. Traditional female roles were being questioned. Women began entering the workplace in vast numbers. Girls were being encouraged to pursue careers. They were asserting their rights as individuals, not as accessories to the men they married. Cynthia MacAdams’ iconic 1977 book of photographs — Feminist Portraits 1974-1977 — is the impetus for Johanna Demetrakas’ movie. Demetrakas uses pictures from the book, film clips, and archival news footage to augment her interviews with some of the women who were featured in the book. Among them are: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, cutting-edge artist Judy Chicago, writer-professor Phyllis Chesler, and an intriguing collection of women who are still with us and can share their stories. Demetrakas also enlists younger women to provide an updated look at ongoing struggles: new ones, battles that they thought ended decades ago, and some that seem never to be won.