Full Review? Buddha 4 - "Mrs. America I": Are Women's Equality Radical?
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In the 2016 U.S. election, Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Trump. Fundamentally speaking, it was a failure to popularize the liberal values of the Democratic Party that she represented and advocated to the grassroots people. It is clear that many polls have shown that Hillary's approval rating is higher. Gao, countless celebrities on the Internet and in the newspapers endorsed Hillary Clinton's platform, but in the end they lost to Trump - this plot is almost like "Mrs. America"!
In the 1970s, the feminist movement in the United States was in full swing, with various feminist activists emerging, the atmosphere of the affirmative movement was high, and the "Affirmative Action Amendment" was triumphant all the way; and at this time, conservatives came out. Activist Phyllis Schlafly, who founded the Phyllis Schlafly tabloid and used her powerful connections to mobilize white housewives in the states against the ERA and the liberal feminist movement. Phyllis led the rise of American housewives and became an unexpected and unstoppable anti-ERA force. With one enemy, the ERA movement, which was already a winner, eventually went bankrupt.
true historical story
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which aims to ensure equal legal rights for citizens regardless of gender, aims to improve pay equality, domestic violence, and discrimination against pregnant women. With the rise of second-wave feminism in the 1960s, the ERA was supported by presidents like Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy, and others.
Passed by both houses of Congress in 1972, it requires three-quarters of the states to approve it, or 38 of the 50 states.
In 1973, 30 states in the United States approved it, and polls have repeatedly shown that most Americans support the ERA
In 1973 Phyllis Schlafly brought conservatives back into politics, and ERA ratification in the remaining states suddenly became difficult
Maine, Montana, Ohio ratified in 1974
Approved by North Dakota in 1975
Indiana ratified in 1977 - 35 states have ratified the ERA so far
1978 President Carter signs Joint Resolution Statement, ratification extended to June 30, 1982
The 1982 extended term expires, and the ERA ultimately fails by a three-state margin
Beginning in 1980, the Republican Party took an anti-abortion stance, withdrew its support for the ERA and worked against the amendment. In a sense, the anti-ERA movement led by Phyllis completely changed the direction of the feminist movement in the 1970s, marking the turn of the feminist movement from prosperity to decline in the 1960s and 1970s. So far, the vigorous civil rights movement has declined, conservatives have revitalized the political arena, and traditional family values have re-emerged, and the United States has entered the golden age of conservatism - the Reagan era.
American Lady vs American Woman
Although the title of the play is "Mrs. America" and Schlafly is also placed under the victory light on the poster, "Mrs. America" is actually a work showing female group portraits. The plot spans the entire 1970s. An important node of the movement; using multiple POV narratives at the same time, each episode draws out her opposing camp, an important representative of the feminist camp, and brings out some different issues, political handling methods, etc., thus forming a whole picture 6 , Panorama of the feminist movement in the 1970s.
Gloria Steinem
Gloria is a radiant, feminist journalist with long hair and iconic glasses, who has gathered a large number of female fans for her huge personality and is the "face" of the liberals in the ERA movement. But at the same time, her beauty is also her "burden", because everyone thinks that because Gloria has a "pretty face", people will listen to her.
This is actually quite ironic, because the word "vase" itself is used by patriarchy to objectify women; Chizuru Ueno mentioned in the book "Misogyny" that "beauty" is completely a kind of "men bestow women on women". The value of the "value", while women in reality use this standard to demand other women more harshly, and even many people criticize the image of Black Widow for being too beautiful (flattering to male power), so they refuse to recognize her as a feminist icon...
But the same question is reversed, do men feel ashamed when they show their talents because they are handsome? When companies boast about their "most handsome CTOs", does any CTO (all men) feel uncomfortable because of it?
Gloria's main claim is the right to abortion, or reproductive freedom. In expounding her claim, Gloria has a very classic line:
Abortion didn't happen until it was legalized; the choice about legalization is not abortion and no abortion, but legal abortion and illegal abortion.
When I saw this passage, I couldn't help but want to stand and applaud Gloria, but almost at the same time, I thought of two other recently controversial issues in China: the legalization of prostitution and the legalization of surrogacy.
By the same token, did prostitution only happen when it was legalized? Did surrogacy only happen when surrogacy was legalized? As a feminist, I advocate and support women's free and responsible handling of their bodies, whether they use or trade them, whether it's my mind, hands, feet, uterus, or vagina. However, the current feminist mainstream supports the legalization of abortion, but opposes the legalization of prostitution and surrogacy - and whenever this comes I feel very divided.
Abortion is legal in China, and Chinese women do not have to bear their husband's surname. Many people come to the absurd conclusion that "China has achieved equality between men and women". Actor Chen Chong once did an interview and mentioned that in the time period when she was growing up in China, men and women were actually quite equal, and it was an era when "women held up half the sky" - but this was not the case, because at that time The "equality" in fact is in the need of productivity and simply and rudely erases the difference between men and women. As our media advocates: women are heroes in the epidemic, as brave and strong as men, and when the epidemic is over, women will return to the supportive society of "wife", "daughter" and "mother" into the role.
Bella Abzug
Bella is bespectacled, fat, hippie, but even a little funny in appearance. She is one of the founders of the National Women's Political Caucus. She became a well-known anti-war figure as early as the 1960s. She is proficient in political strategy and can be said to know very well how this political machine built on the core of male power operates. . But while fighting for women's rights in compromise and negotiation, Bella also became "smooth" in the long-term political game, so she encountered some criticism that she was "not radical enough".
I myself am often rated as a "radical", so I gradually realized a truth: whether you are radical or not is actually not up to you, but depends on who is evaluating you.
Deciding to marry your true love when you're 20 isn't radical; but when you're 30, and you don't get married because you haven't met that person, it becomes radical; when everyone has one child, you advocate having two If everyone has a second child, if you insist on not having one, or only one child, you will become radical. Copernicus, who insisted on the heliocentric theory, was also a “radical” who was burned to death at that time. group". If radicalism does have a definition, it is also a fluid definition. It is not a condition that we can use to judge, nor is it a rule that we can use to criticize. When criticizing others for being radical, you are just proving yourself. How conservative and backward.
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley is the first black female congressman and black female presidential candidate in the United States. Her special status as a feminist has made her a voice for poor women and African-American women. She is also a member of the National Women's Political Caucus. One of the founders.
Shirley's core appeal was that she wanted to be a black female president, so her resistance came not only from men, but also from women. Her debates within the organization further validate my above point about "radical": to Gloria, Bella is conservative; but to Shirley, Gloria is also conservative because she thinks "a black female president" is too Radical, should not be the goal they are fighting for at this stage. But when Gloria persuaded Shirley to exchange some of his votes for a white male congressman in exchange for his support for the ERA, the white male congressman slapped them all over again, taking Shirley's vote and voting negative.
Betty Friedan
Betty, known as the "mother of the modern women's liberation movement", is the author of "The Feminine Mystique", which advocates "liberating all housewives" and is considered to be the fuse of the second-wave feminist movement. Betty's claim is directly opposed to Phyllis Schlafly, and "The Feminine Mystique" was also named and criticized by Schlafly at the "Daughters of the American Revolution" she founded.
Betty's weakness was Betty's weakness by the fact that Betty's husband abandoned Betty for a younger woman: a fact that embarrassed her even more as a middle-aged woman in her 40s and 50s with a desire to be in love . Betty tries to date, but the men are only interested in Gloria; when Betty and Schlafly debate in college, Betty tries to flirt with Phyllis' husband Fred outside the locker room, and is ruthlessly humiliated.
After Phyllis attacked her as an abandoned woman, Betty became angry and lost control. She fought back on the spot that Schlafly was a witch. Intention, so when Betty said this sentence, the scene was in an uproar, and the subsequent debate was defeated like a mountain.
Chizuru Ueno said in the book "Misogyny": A feminist is someone who is fighting against the misogynistic part of her body - that's exactly what Betty does, she knows her ex-husband who likes young women is misogynistic Yes, she knew very well that Schlafly attacked her as an abandoned woman and was misogynistic, and she also knew more deeply that she was also ashamed of her being misogynistic, but she couldn't overcome or accept this part of "misogynistic self".
I can really relate to this! Just as I know that body shaming against women is misogynistic, I know that it is misogynistic to judge a woman's value by appearance, and I know even more that my self-loathing because of being overweight is misogynistic— — But still, I couldn’t convince myself not to self-loath, and even my inability to overcome the “misogyny gene” in my body became the source of my self-loathing.
Jill Ruckelshaus
Jill, the only Republican on the National Women's Political Caucus, was a supporter of then-President Nixon and a social activist promoting women's abortion rights. She's a conservative Republican feminist who dresses more like Phyllis Schlafly than liberal; even her debate with Phyllis is private and more partisan.
However, it is precisely because Jill, as a working woman who has been active in the political arena all the year round, truly sees the situation of women at work, that she feels that women should also show their strength outside the family and get the law protection, which made her a feminist.
Jill may not be sharp, but rely more on connections, political means and a moderate attitude to solve problems. Her Republican identity also gives the audience another perspective on affirmative action: also from the Republican Party, Jill is a "well-seasoned man" The conflicting views between Schlafly, a housewife who "worked" at an insignificant foundation, stemmed from their different experiences and life circumstances. When Schlafly said to Jill that "a lady is not sexually harassed", Jill angrily fought back:
They could be you. They could be me.
In fact, Phyllis was sexually harassed by male politicians on the first day of his "politics": the male politicians unabashedly praised Phyllis' pink dress, rubbed his shoulders and scratched his arms and other excessive physical contact, and even suggested that Phyllis went to the meeting after the meeting. his hotel. And in that congressman's office, when Schlafly was asked to take meeting notes, she looked up at the expressions of the other men, and the camera swept over one by one. No one thought there was anything wrong with it, because in their perception, women couldn't be In a high position, at most a "secretary". So Schlafly smirked and stood up to get a pen, when she turned to look at the male politicians who had ignored her and had begun to talk... The men's discussions faded, and the slogan "ERA" was clear outside the window. Intertwined, Phyllis's expression at that moment is mixed, because she knows she is experiencing sexism, but she can't be angry.
The different representatives of the feminist movement in "Mrs. America" have their own demands and their own political handling. We are surprised that while feminism is so divided, we are also surprised that they can be so united. As a viewer, and another participant in the mirrorworld, I feel less alone every time I watch an episode of Mrs. America. It's hard for me to completely hate one of the characters, and I can't fully agree with any of them, I see myself in each of them, and I see my companions.
The world is never divided, you and I are never alone. Devided we fall; united we stand.
Buddha 4 Complete Review? "Mrs. America I": Are Women's Equal Rights Radical?
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