Feminist Documentaries that Changed My Perspective
By: Sadie Lee
Tags: Rape Culture, Feminist Documentary, Feminism, Netflix, Documentary

Pexels: Cottonbro

My biggest frustration that surrounds the conversation of feminism is how unwilling people are to educate themselves. I have heard my friend’s dad say she got a “liberal bias” with her education. This could be true. But I often find that opposing opinions on feminism are not based within research. They are based in personal opinions.

“Personal opinions” on a “feminist” are usually constructed from the popular representation of feminism: Taylor Swift, or angry unshaven old ladies. Man, I love Portlandia too, but I do wonder what harm the “Feminist Book Store” bit is doing for women.

You don’t need to go to a fancy liberal arts school. You don’t even need to go to college to participate in these conversations around critical thinking and feminism!

You do need to be willing and eager to learn. It also helps to be humble about your lack of information. I find that this is a jumping off point for people to educate themselves.

Netflix is great. But it can tailor content to what you watch. The re-runs of Friends might not be helping your queue. An education for a few dollars a month, awaits you!

Film is a great way to avoid dry literature. It is also easier to host a movie night with a friend to discuss feminism, than it is to get them to buy a whole book and make them read it(I know from personal experience). So without further ado, here are some feminist education films!

Netflix Documentaries:

MissRepresentation

I just can’t get over this film. It is a must watch for every woman out there. This film was my first real introduction to feminism. It summarized the entire concept of feminism in a beautiful story. I was in college and I don’t think I grasped how women are treated until I saw this film. It is a perfect film to show to our friends, family, and the young girls and boys in our life. You don’t see film, posters, or other media representations of women the same ever again. It’s for the best trust me. Just please watch. Share. This one film especially:

The Mask You Live In

This film is a great way to introduce men to feminism. No feminism doesn’t just benefit women! This film talks about the pain and silence that patriarchy confines men too. It centers around masculinity(the title is almost a play on words). Yes, masculinity is great. But there are toxic forms of it. For example, men are at higher risks for completion of suicides(women are at higher rates of attempted suicides)because men are less willing to admit when they need help.

Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On

This film is about the porn industry. If you don’t personally watch it, I guarantee you know more than one person who does. Pornhub got 115 million views a day in 2019. I personally believe in the importance of supporting female friendly porn sites, I came to this conclusion after this series. The series highlights the challenges and hardships in the industry. It also explores how it can impact our romantic relationships and view of women and BIPOC.

Audrie and Daisy

This film I think is important because it shifts conversations about rape from “did it happen?” to forcing you to listen to the victim. Both survivors in this story detail the horrors of the rape in a way that is hard to overlook. I think this is an important one to share when someone says, “How do we know they were raped?” or “Women cry wolf when they didn’t want to say they had sex with someone.”

*Warning: Sensitive material this film is NOT for everyone.

Period. End of Sentence.

This film is a great reminder that when we say feminism we hopefully aren’t only talking about white American feminism. This film is about the impact of what a small business can mean for a woman’s life. It follows a young woman who gets a pad making machine and how much it changes her entire village’s life. It’s about a 20 minute piece!

Amanda Knox

This is controversial, sure. But I think the important part of this piece is how it highlights how Amanda was treated by the press. It also shows how harmful our stereotypes of women can be when allowing them a free and fair trail.

Roll Red Roll

This film shows the horror of explaining away rape. Two young high school football stars are perpetrators in a rape. I don’t blame the young kids. I blame the system they grew up in. I blame the entire system for trying to protect the boys. The way this case is handled is tragic. It’s important we think about why we are willing to protect a male ‘reputation’ over female safety.

*Warning: Many traumatic depictions of the rape in this film.

Feminist Documentaries that once were on Netflix but aren’t anymore:

I am Femen

I just love this film. The women in this are inspiring as hell. The group known as “Femen”, fights for female empowerment using media catching unusual methods. It’s a great film if you’re a woman tired from fighting for the feminist cause. The women are artist, activists, and brave. It is sure to get you out of your seat and ready to rock the system!

Dark Girls

This is a must watch. This film depicts a population that often goes under represented in documentaries on Feminism. Many of the films above are about white women. Dark Girls shows you a tragic glimpse for the social pains that black women experience. I talk more about this film and white feminism here.

The Invisible War

Fasten your seat belts for this one. This film tackles the challenges of being in the military and being a woman. What do college and the military have in common? Women are stepping out of their roles as ‘house wives’ and are raped for it. Rape is not about male desire, rape is about power.

Get ready to understand the challenges female veterans face. This film will show you how the military system can be against the women who are fighting for our lives.

*Graphic recounts of rape and sexual trauma in this film.

I am tired of the excuses. There are ways to learn about this. Grab a bowl of popcorn. Call up your girlfriends, your fathers, your uncles. Let’s have these conversation. Let’s educated and enlighten each other. It’s not about arguing or paying thousands for a gender studies class, and this isn’t about women.This is about a willingness to learn.

Let’s make our ‘movie dates’ feminist focused!