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Every once in a while (actually, more often than that but I try to stay positive and all) someone brings up an aspect of sexism or a kind of discrimination I hadn't thought about before. This is one of these cases.

I've never really thought about it before, but I don't believe I've ever seen a movie trailer narrated by a woman. Variety has an article which cites a quote from Don LaFontaine, known as "The Voice of the Movie Trailer", who as you might recall, recently passed away:

"I think women are vastly underrepresented in this area," LaFontaine said in 2006. "You'd think that for films directly aimed at women, chick flicks, the logical choice would be for a woman to narrate the trailer. But studios hold focus groups and the people in them, women included, seem to prefer the male voice."

[Reporter Caroline] Ryder also notes that William Morris represents only three female trailer voices, all of whom work primarily in television or scratch (aka temp tracks), compared with 33 male trailer voices.

Is it because male voices are considered more authoritative? What gives?

Thanks to Brad for the link!

One of my favorite things to do on Halloween is to just chill out with my peoples/honey and watch horror movies. I'm a big fan of scary flicks, yet I always run into the obvious - that so many of them are pretty damn sexist.

So yes, I'll admit I've watched some horror films that are a feminist's nightmare - basically those cheesy, old school sexist flicks that are so silly and ridiculous, it's laughable. But I also can't tell you how many times I've had to turn off a movie five minutes in because the glorification of violence against women is so blatant.

Yet every once in a while, I come across a scary movie that actually manages to be sexist-free. I would say one example is The Descent, a scary-ass film with an all-female cast of really strong characters.

So tonight, Jessica and I are getting a bunch of scary movies to watch. Do any buffs have suggestions of some feminist-friendly horror we could get?

This past weekend, after failing to get tickets to see W., I went to see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I mean who can say no to Michael Cera's sarcastic, self-conscious, nerdiness, that makes feminists gush. Yes, I like quiet, shy, nerdy boys. So. What.

I love movies that try and capture youth culture. Maybe because I am obsessed with youth culture, or have participated in almost every sub-culture of my generation, but I am always fascinated with Hollywood depictions of spaces and places, most people don't have access to or know about. I always relate to characters that are underdogs, that don't fit in with the popular kids and choose to hang out with the punk/goth/skater/hip-hop kids. I especially like movies that depict one eventful night where they are spending the whole night chasing a party, band or DJ. Those movies make my heart smile because I spent so much of my youth chasing parties, DJs, bands, boys, or the next fun thing in the night. They allow you to see what I saw-nerdy kids go to parties, we have fun and adventures without the judgment and gaze of the mainstream normative non-queer world.

Alfre Woodard (left) and CCH Pounder (right)

The Oscar-nominated actress Alfre Woodard talked to Premiere magazine:

Do you think African-American women are getting better roles now? You see more African-American [women] onscreen, I guess, but it's hardly anything to crow about. It's not just African-American women -- it's Latinas, Asian-American women. The film business remains the last bastion of close-minded and uncreative behavior in terms of the way we see human beings.

So it was ironic when George Clooney name-dropped Hattie McDaniel [Gone with the Wind] in his Oscar acceptance speech for Michael Clayton.
I don't remember his speech.

He was trying to show that Hollywood has always been ahead of its time.
I don't know what he meant. No other the industry is this backwards in terms of not putting the best person for the task up to the task, rather than assuming you're a specialty act. It's, "I'm not going to let Rosalind Chao play the museum curator unless it says 'Chinese-American woman,'" and then they're going to make her say, at some point, something about some noodles. That kind of bullshit.

This reminded me of something I recently heard the actress CCH Pounder (of the tv show, "The Shield," which I've actually never seen) say on NPR's Fresh Air. She told a story of wanting to read for the part of a judge, but because it wasn't written as "black woman judge," she had to fight for the chance to even audition:

I just saw this new documentary, A Jihad for Love.

Fourteen centuries after the revelation of the holy Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islam today is the world's second largest and fastest growing religion. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of this dynamic faith discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims.

Filmed over 5 1/2 years, in 12 countries and 9 languages, "A Jihad for Love" comes from the heart of Islam. Looking beyond a hostile and war-torn present, this film seeks to reclaim the Islamic concept of a greater Jihad, which can mean 'an inner struggle' or 'to strive in the path of God'. In doing so the film and its remarkable subjects move beyond the narrow concept of 'Jihad' as holy war.

It was a really interesting film, heavy subject matter but well executed. It made me realize how much I have to learn about Middle Eastern culture and Islam. It also provoked thoughts about queer activism in the United States and how our concepts "being out" are really specific to our society in many ways. How open people in the US can be about their sexuality (which of course varies widely) isn't necessarily the standard that can be used to judge other countries and communities. Religious and cultural context is really important and shapes how gay and lesbian people see their own identities and desires for their lives.

You should check it out if it's playing in your city.

Check out the list at Cracked. (I know, the site is not exactly a bastion of feminism -- but trust me, the list actually makes some great points about how movies typically portray strong women characters.) Their top five:

5. Eowyn (Lord of the Rings) 4. Padme Amidala (Star Wars prequels) 3. River Tam (Firefly/Serenity) 2. Catwoman (Batman Returns) 1. Elizabeth Swan (Pirates of the Caribbean)

What characters would you add to the list?

This was a great blog by author Kate Bornstein (of My Gender Workbook fame) on this summer's animated blockbuster, Wall-E.

Her blog post, cleverly entitled WALL•E: A Butch/Femme Love Story... or Silly Rabbit! Robots Have No Gender:

I'm completely smitten with WALL•E, this summer's Pixar/Disney offering. But the last thing I expected to see in my friendly, heterosexual upper east side Manhattan neighborhood movie theater was a feature length cartoon about a pair of lesbian robots who fall madly in love with each other. WALL•E is nothing short of hot, dyke Sci Fi action romance, some seven hundred years in the future! Woo-hoo!

I had similar thoughts while watching the movie about how they were obviously attempting to gender the robots--this is a children's movie for godsake! But similar to the political subtext of the film, there was an interesting subtext about gender and romance that Bornstein explains in her post.

The film makers take a great deal of care in pointing out that WALL•E and EVE's notion of butch/femme romance is based in the world and culture of Hello, Dolly. Hello_dolly_3That's supposed to be a cue for the audience to believe they're a "healthy" heterosexual male and female couple. But it's not proof that they are male or female. And anyway, how camp is Hello, Dolly!?

Is it that simply by looking at the robots, we can tell that WALL•E's a boy and EVE is a girl? What was it up on that screen that defined the robots' gender? Both robots were naked, so we could see their entire anatomy, right? Neither of those robots had a vagina or a penis. Did you see one or the other? Neither robot was sporting an Adam's apple. Neither EVE nor WALL•E flashed any tit that I could see. So, we've got no way to spot those robots as male or female by using secondary sex characteristics. But still, most of us would swear on a stack of holy bibles or holy Gender Trouble that those robots are male and female. How did we most of us come to agree on that?

Read the rest for more!

Via Sugarbutch Chronicles

Sometimes I google things like "feminism" or "sexism" and this time via a google search for sexism I came across this gem. It is a series of clips from Disney movies depicting masculinity and then deconstructing the ways these characterizations of manhood deploy as standard.

There are some other ones in the 'related' section such as this one on racism in Disney.

At Salon, Rebecca Traister has a love letter to her favorite sci-fi protagonist, Dana Scully:

In this summer of Dark Knights and Hellboys and Iron Men, it's refreshing to be reminded -- as we will be this weekend, with the opening of "The-X-Files: I Want to Believe" -- that not so long ago, there was a science fiction series with a woman at its core, a heroine whose major goals were more about disproving the existence of extraterrestrial life than marrying Big, a chick who spent more time chasing fluke worms down toilets than trying on shoes.

Awhile ago, Starziki6 posted some very similar sentiments on our community blog:

Mostly, my love for the show (and I loved this show for eight seasons) had to do with Scully and how unique her character was. She was introduced to the show as its rational, scientific, and spiritual voice. When Mulder got himself into trouble by following his gut, Scully would reel him into reality by using her head. (It also happened that Scully got into trouble from using her head and Mulder could save her by following his gut, but the roles remained largely consistent.)

I cannot love the show more for the way it depicted a strong, smart, beautiful, and ultimately feminist woman.

I was so excited to go see Sex and the City. Like most feminists with any shred of race or class analysis, I have always had a love hate relationship with Sex and the City. There were things about that show that were so god awful that I literally had to tune them out completely to enjoy the show. As a woman of color inundated by media that fails to ever acknowledge who I am or that what I am is valid, I am used to this type of spectatorship. And Sex and the City has always been one of those shows that always made it worth it, because for better or for worse, the show always made me feel better, especially if I was feeling heartbroken (which has been often!).

So naturally I was most excited to go see the movie with two of my best gal pals. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my lofty expectations. Disappointment would be an understatement. Did I laugh? I sure did, but I am stupid like that sometimes. And honestly, I couldn't tell if I was laughing at the movie or with it for most of it.

Just lovely.

This week, Newsweek covered a new HBO documentary on film director Roman Polanski, in which the infamous case where he was charged with drugging and raping a 13-year old girl is discussed. Interesting language Newsweek decided to use to describe the crime:

There was champagne and a Quaalude for refreshments before a trip to the bedroom. When Samantha's mother found out, she called the police. Polanski never denied he'd had sex with her but maintained it was consensual. Samantha said it was not. She also told detectives she'd been drunk before. And she'd had sex before. (Emphasis mine)

Not surprisingly, the general language of the piece has a similar tone, describing the case as Polanksi being charged for "having sex with" a 13-year old. The article ends with:

This deft and subtle film is a fitting tribute to a man—like him or not—whose life deserves more than tabloid headlines.

It absolutely drives me insane how Polanski and other high profile sex offenders like accused Woody Allen are treated like martyrs for having to endure the tabloids for heinous crimes, and labeled as these brilliant, tragic and fascinating men. Is it just me or is there something really disturbing about this?

I'm a little late on this, but I have to mention it. Did anyone else find it really irritating that Deborah Solomon's Questions with Cynthia Nixon in the last New York Times Magazine seemed like some weird "Ask a Lesbian!" column? Check these questions out (the last one is the kicker)...

A few years ago, you moved in with a woman, after leaving the father of your children. Do you find it easier living with a woman than a man because you have more in common? I think you do have more in common.

You can use the same bathroom in movie theaters, for instance. That’s absolutely true!

Can you share clothes? No. Christine doesn’t wear women’s clothes; she only wears men’s clothes. She won’t even wear any kind of women’s shoes. I bought her a pair of cowboy boots that were from the women’s department, and she was like, “Don’t do this again.�

Does she watch sports on TV? She does. We don’t have a TV. But when there was a World Cup, we went to the local Ruby Foo’s and watched it. And we actually did watch the Super Bowl as well. She tried to explain it to me.

Do you think of her as the male figure in the relationship? No, I don’t at all. Look at what’s happening now. She’s at home with the kids, and I’m the one out pounding the pavement. . . . She’s for Hillary, and I’m for Obama.

I swear, I was waiting for her to ask about scissoring.

Has anyone ever seen the movie Teeth? I know we've blogged about it before, but I finally watched it yesterday and I fucking loved it. Loved.

Anyone else see it? Thoughts?

Martha Ma is a food and media educator and producer, community chef and health counselor. She is the host and producer of "The Tasty Life," a bi-weekly television show on Manhattan Public Access channel 57, and the editor of the e-newsletter, "Eater's Digest."

Martha is also executive producer of the Food for Thought Film Festival. If you're in the NYC area this weekend, check out the last weekend of the festival at Cooper Union's Wollman Auditorium, 51 Astor Place at Third Ave. Feature films include King Corn, Black Gold, and Life and Debt. Shorts include The Meatrix I, II and II 1/2 and The True Cost of Food.

Here's Martha...

The amazing film, NO! The Rape Documentary is being screened tonight in Brooklyn at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Filmmaker Aishah Shahidah Simmons will also be at the screening to answer questions and discuss the documentary, along with anti-violence activist Quentin Walcott and writer Kevin Powell. Seriously, this is not an event to be missed.

Doors open at 6:30 pm
program begins at 7:00 pm

at BROWN MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH
484 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(at the corner of Gates Ave. | Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY)
A or C to Clinton/Washington stop

For a Feministing interview with Aishah, click here.

My new crush is Peter Sagal of NPR, who came out of watching the new flick Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who with his daughters pretty pissed off:

In a new subplot added by the filmmakers, the mayor of Whoville has 96 daughters. He has one son. Guess who gets all his attention? Guess who saves the day? Go ahead, think about it, I'll wait.

Check out the whole fantastic, feminist rant. (And thanks to our readers for the tip!)

A random note I learned in this process: anti-choicers apparently stole a line from the original book, "a person's a person, no matter how small," to use as their own. (Despite Seuss' past threat to sue.) Lovely.

Next Tuesday, HBO is featuring a documentary exposing the scope of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo titled, The Greatest Silence, reports UN Dispatch.

The Enough Campaign and HBO are working together to coordinate house screenings across the country. You can even hold your own screening or take part in a conference call the following day with filmmaker Lisa Jackson, ENOUGH Co-Chair John Prendergast, and Director of Public Policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Kiersten Stewart, to discuss the film and find out about ways that you can help end violence against women in the DRC.

Check out more background on violence against women in the DRC.

Teens beatdown a rapist in my fave feminist flick, Girls Town.

Radar has compiled a list of the decade's most woman-hating movies (some I agree with, some not so much).

But, to get the afternoon started on a positive note...leave your favorite feminist-minded movies in comments. Mine, by a fucking landslide, is Girls Town. Lili Taylor rocks out in this flick, where a group of high school girls hand out some serious justice to rapist assholes. Love.

I love this. Hayley Atwell is starring in Woody Allen's new movie, Cassandra's Dream, but Miramax Films asked her to loose weight.

Says Atwell: "I went round to Emma's one night and she was getting very angry that I wasn't eating all the food she was giving me. I told her why and she hit the roof." The no-nonsense Thompson was so outraged that she called the producers the next day and threatened to resign from the film if they forced Atwell to lose weight. Faced with Thompson - a two-times Oscar winner - on the warpath, Miramax Films swiftly relented.

I heart her.

Miki Fujiwara, aka Urban Envy, is a self-employed visual artist/community activist based in New York City.

Born in Hiroshima, Japan, Miki is known to be one of the original members of the New York Tributary Art Movement. The majority of her work, mostly paintings, has been categorized as "Cultural Surrealism," often said to be in the "tradition of Cynthia Tom and Frida Kahlo."

Urban Envy's works can be seen in local galleries of New York City.

Here's Miki...

Juno star and Oscar-nominated actor Ellen Page isn't afraid of using the f-word.

From an interview with The Washington Post: "I call myself a feminist when people ask me if I am, and of course I am 'cause it's about equality, so I hope everyone is. You know you're working in a patriarchal society when the word feminist has a weird connotation."

And then I swoon.

Thanks to Andrew for the link.

Can I just say that I can't fucking wait for this movie to come out?

Hi Everyone!

I'm really excited to be blogging officially for the crew at Feministing. Since in my other life I write as Radical Doula, I figured this would be an appropriate first post. Everyone should check out this documentary in the making--At Your Cervix and if you happen to be in the DC area this weekend, go to their fundraiser.

This film is all about the oh-so-scary pelvic exam. Or maybe it doesn't have to be? The film is dedicated to "making pelvic exams respectful and pain-free." Sounds right on to me.

At Your Cervix breaks the silence around the unethical methods used by medical and nursing schools to teach students how to perform pelvic exams; the most egregious being on unconsenting, anaesthetized women. At the same time, the film highlights the Gynecological Teaching Associate (GTA) Program in New York City. Fuelled by the spirit of women’s health activism, the GTA program began over 30 years ago and it has been shown to be the most effective way to teach exams and is also the most ethical and empowering to women.

For those of you in the DC area: The filmmaker will be showing a clip of the movie at Joe's Movement Emporium in Mount Rainier, MD February 15, 2008 @ 7pm.

Oh, and if you want to make sure this awesome film gets made, think about donating some money here.

The producer of Superman Returns (of all movies) is being sued by two women for sexual discrimination and harassment.

The most recent case was made by a couple who worked for Jon Peters; when informing Peters of her pregnancy, he recommended she have an abortion or her husband would be fired, in which he was shortly after she refused.

The other pending lawsuit was filed in 2005 when an office assistant claims she was harassed daily and physically threatened by Peters.

What a guy.

I find this to be odd. Apparently, the MPAA has rather inconsistent guidelines for what is considered inappropriate verse appropriate imagery for movie promotions. Via Think Progress, the poster for Alex Gibney's new documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side, has been rejected because it is not "suitable" for all audiences. The poster shown here, is an image of two soldiers walking a hooded person away. Censorship is usually fickle and inconsistent, but for some reason it appears that when torture is fictitious, graphic imagery is appropriate. It is when it represents reality, it must be censored.

For example, can we forget the lovely image for the movie, Captivity?

Amanda at Think Progress has a few more images that also show torture and were approved by the MPAA and frankly they are much more graphic than the above poster that was censored. So I guess, it is OK to show women tortured in movie posters, mainly because we are used to seeing it, but in this case perhaps because it is fiction. However, when images are shown that display the atrocities done by US military forces that are inhumane, unjust and illegal, WELL, that is just too much for the American public to handle.

Check out Meghan O'Rourke's piece on Knocked Up and Katherine Heigl's recent statement that the movie was "a little sexist." O'Rourke delves into the whole women-as-killjoys trend--it's good stuff. What do you think?

While everyone is asking why it took so long for Jodie Foster to come out of the closet (maybe because it's none of our damn business), it's great to see she's gone public regardless.

I also want to take this opportunity to give Foster props for playing such strong feminist characters in her movies (The Accused, Panic Room, and her most recent The Brave One). What's your favorite Jodie Foster flick? (I think mine is Contact.)

Shortly after Katherine Heigl made her statement about Knocked Up saying the movie was "a little sexist," we find that an Jennifer Love Hewitt is now speaking out against social beauty standards. In response to ridicule on the internet regarding an "unflattering" picture of her in a bikini, Hewitt said:

"I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized. . . To set the record straight, I'm not upset for me, but for all the girls out there that are struggling with their body image.

A size 2 is not fat! Nor will it ever be. . . And being a size 0 doesn't make you beautiful. . . To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist. . . put on a bikini — put it on and stay strong."

While I agree with Zuzu (who has a great post on this, by the way) that she seems a wee defensive as being seen as fat, it's great that she's speaking out against this bullshit.

Thanks to Michael for the link.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, actress Katherine Heigl says that Knocked Up, was "a little sexist."

"It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys," she says. "It was hard for me to love the movie."

Thoughts?

Both to see the movie, and to have a killer vagina.

By the way, I still want to make a Vagina Dentata shirt with the tagline: "Feminists have teeth," but have nary an idea on the design. Any ideas?

The name alone is enough to make me want to see this movie. Add in my love for feminist graffiti, and I'm sold.

Filmmaker Tiona. M. has worked in the educational documentary genre and pulled up her sleeves in the non-profit arena. This time, she has two documentary films that she wants to share with the world. One is on a Black women and her two daughters, and their university experience. The other, which I interviewed her on, is black./womyn.: conversations..., which should be out soon.

Here's Tiona...

Thea at Shameless Mag really gets it right:

This is what really breaks my heart: Wes’ track record with women of colour. Anderson just loves pairing women of colour up with dorky white dudes, shortly after dorky white dudes have been dumped or rejected by white ladies. Even though Rushmore’s Margaret Yang is the fullest of all of Wes’ colour characters, she is still paired up with the loveable/hateable Max after Ms Cross turns him down. It’s the same story with Inez, the lovely Latin American hotel cleaner in Bottle Rocket.

[...] The interracial relationships in Anderson’s films are not radical. They simply reinforce racism’s most current and insidious form - they take cultural appropriation to the ultimate level by appropriating actual women of colour, a la Gwen Stefani.

Read the whole thing.

From the woman who brought you I Was a Teenage Feminist comes a peek into one of my fave topics: virginity.

THE AMERICAN VIRGIN examines the impact of myths, misconceptions and cultural beliefs surrounding virginity.

What is virginity? Who gets to define it? Why do we care so much about it? And how do our sexual choices define our identity, especially for women?

From abstinence-till-marriage programs to teen sex comedies to hymen reconstruction, THE AMERICAN VIRGIN explores the ways in which anxiety and fascination with the concept of the "virgin" are linked to our cultural attitudes towards female sexuality.

Awesome. Also, if you're in New York, there's a fundraiser tonight, cleverly called NYC's First Purity Ball. Go and feel like a virgin again. Whatever that means.

The Los Angeles Times had a piece yesterday about the television and movie trend of the BBF--the Black Best Friend:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus has one. Sandra Bullock had one. So did Jennifer Garner and Katie Holmes. Jennifer Love Hewitt has had two. Calista Flockhart took hers dancing. Kate Walsh had one, lost her, and got another one with a different face but the same name. And Scarlett Johansson got her first one last weekend.

They're stars who have all played lead characters who experience adventure with the help of their BFF (Best Friend Forever). But in many cases, these BFFs might more accurately be characterized as BBFs -- Black Best Friend -- played by an African American actress whose character's principal function is to support the heroine, often with sass, attitude and a keen insight into relationships and life.

Rose Catherine Pinkney, executive vice president of programming and production for TV One and a former Paramount Studios executive, says "...[I]t's a shame that studios also don't have the courage to put these actresses in leads...Historically, people of color have had to play nurturing, rational caretakers of the white lead characters. And studios are just not willing to reverse that role."

Sounds like the "magical black man" syndrome. Charming.

But the article is quick to point out that unlike movies or shows where black and white men are shown to be buddies, the relationship between women on screen follows a rather predictable formula:

BBFs vary in personality and looks, but many share the same qualities: They are gorgeous, independent, loyal and successful. They live or work with their friend but are not really around all that much except for well-timed moments when the heroine needs an eating companion or is in crisis. BBFs basically have very little going on, so they are largely available for such moments. And even though they are single or lack consistent solid relationships, BBFs are experts in the ways of the world, using that knowledge to comfort, warn or scold their BFF.

Oh yeah, and they're usually the only person of color around. Way to go, Hollywood.

Racialicious highlights this hilarious MadTV sketch. Amazing.

Remember the guys who have "relationships" with their Real Dolls? Well there's a movie (kinda) about that, Lars and the Real Girl. And it looks really good. (Though my mad crush on Ryan Gosling probably doesn't make me very objective.)

So I don't really know how this would be that different from USC section 2257, but to take an already faulty law to the next level, the US Dept of Justice wants to generate a list of all actors in the porn industry. The desire to do this is of course to prohibit the production of underage porn. However, the reality of 2257 has been that many women have had their identities and personal information revealed to people that shouldn't have access to it. Or rather people we don't want to have access to it, thusly making a potentially preventative measure backfire or often force performers to leave the country.

The new rules, proposed under the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act, would require blue-movie makers to keep photos, stage names, professional names, maiden names, aliases, nicknames and ages on file for the inspection of the department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.

"The identity of every performer is critical to determining and ensuring that no performer is a minor," according to the new proposal.

The adult film industry plans to challenge the new rule as a violation of the First Amendment, said Paul Cambria, a lawyer for Hustler and other adult film companies.

According to one article the key difference will be that this new law covers all sexually simulative acts, not just explicitly sexual acts. There has been some discussion to keep personal information completely private. The pornography industry is already so complicated with respect to the rights of women and attempted protection of underage performers, so I have trouble believing that this would actually help.

Thoughts?

via New York Post.

Apropos of Vanessa's post, the other night I watched 9 to 5 for the first time in several years, and was really struck by how much its depiction of the workplace holds true today (at least before the film sort of goes off the rails halfway through). Sure, in 2007, bosses who are "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigots" might have to be a little subtler about their views than they were in 1980. But when the Lily Tomlin character gets passed over for a promotion she richly deserves, then essentially gets called a ball-busting bitch for not being happy about it, I thought about that new study showing women face repercussions when they ask for raises.

And that stupid Marie Claire advice column has so many parallels to how the Dolly Parton character is treated in the movie. Rather than stick up for Dolly when she's seriously sexually harassed by her boss, the other women in the office seem to be relieved that someone else is subject to more harassment than they are. They not only keep quiet -- they want nothing to do with her. When Parton finally snaps, she says to her boss, "Look, I put up with all your pinchin' and starin' because I need this job!" I've definitely heard similar sentiments expressed in 2007.

The examples go on and on. Jane Fonda's character is entering the workforce, scared and clueless, after spending most of her adult years as a housewife, only to be divorced for a younger woman. (Gee, that never happens anymore, does it?) Their boss refers to all female employees as "my girls" -- which infuriates Tomlin's character. But I also know a male boss who refers to most of his female employees as "muffin" or "kid." Seriously.

I can't decide what's more amazing: that a movie depicting the rampant harassment and sexism in the workplace was a runaway blockbuster hit, or that the injustices depicted in this movie -- released 27 years ago -- are still very much a part of working life for American women.

Check out the trailer:

In an interesting essay over at The Nation, Annabelle Gurwitch fears she's become a Tipper Gore type because she didn't want her kids exposed to the sexist and disturbing movie posters for Captivity. Gurwitch describes her strong beliefs about free speech, and then this:

But that was all before one fateful morning last March. It was on that day that I was driving a carpool of third graders to school when my son pointed at a large looming advertisement and asked, "What's that, mom?" I craned my neck--it was pretty high up, but still visible from the car--and glimpsed some extremely violent and disturbing images. What was being depicted exactly was hard to make out.... A woman crying, maybe; someone encased in a mask with tubes inserted in the nasal passages; and finally what looked like a female body lying inert, her body draped over a bed. The poster read: "Abduction, confinement, torture, termination." Naturally, as a left-wing liberal, I assumed it was detailing abuses at Abu Ghraib and the anguish this has inflicted on the spouses of the prisoners. But no, it was advertising a movie.

To the children, however, I replied, "That person has just found out she's very ill. She goes to the hospital and is placed in a full-body cast, and when she gets home she sees her medical bills, which are so exorbitantly high that she passes out." Were they convinced, confused, politically indoctrinated? I'm not certain, but the rest of the ride to school was very, very quiet.

So apparently the Captivity poster Vanessa wrote about was the second iteration. The first was even more disturbing. And Gurwitch was not the only feminist mom who was troubled by her kids seeing these ads. Wrote Jill Soloway in the HuffPo:

A couple of weeks ago I was driving my son to school when I took a left onto LaBrea, and, as usual, sat in traffic for a couple of minutes. As we waited for the construction bottleneck to ease up, we sang along with the new Shins CD. And then, at the same moment, we fell silent.

We were both noticing the same thing.

It was a billboard for a movie. There was actress Elisha Cuthbert, super-heavily made up-dare I say whorishly-- being used as the centerpiece of the most repulsive, horrifying, woman-hating, human- hating thing I have ever seen in public. [...]

The next morning I decided to take a different route. Except this time I saw two more of the same billboards. It felt like they were EVERYWHERE, peppered all over my city. That afternoon, after the ride home with two more ten year olds in my car-one, a little girl, whose face I watched in my rearview mirror as she tried to make sense of the billboard. Now I was ready to take action.

Even as the letter-writing campaign to Lions Gate Films succeeded in removing the "Abduction, confinement, torture, termination" ads, Gurwitch writes that the questions kept coming from the kids, even about the new, less graphic ads.

This week, the new posters for Captivity went up in my neighborhood. Right on the bus stop at eye level for the kids to see in our carpool today. The new image is simple. A gorgeous woman's face imprisoned behind a chain-link fence. This time, one can clearly see she's crying and mascara is running down her face.

My son asked me what the girl had done wrong and why she was being punished. I was going to say, "She's crying because she heard about the recent Supreme Court decision limiting a woman's right to choose," but I felt defeated, so I just said, "I don't know."

Even though her first explanation made me laugh, her feelings of ambiguity over opposing these ads struck a much more serious chord with me. I have no children or plans to have them, but I can see the desire to keep these images away from kids. They're different than other types of sexist ads I dislike (say, boob-filled beer commercials, or gender-role-heavy ads for household cleaning products). Sexualized violence against women is a whole new level, and I can see how having to explain it to your kids would bring out the Tipper Gore in almost every free-speech-loving feminist.

So I'm curious, dear readers, how do you talk to your kids (and others') about sexist images in the media, particularly disturbing or violent ones like the Captivity ads?