#1). THE HUNTING GROUND
From the crew that made THE INVISIBLE WAR, comes a jarring exposé of rape crimes on various U.S. college campuses, institutional cover-ups, and the harrowing social toll on victims and their families. The film follows rape survivors as they endeavor to further their education while pursuing justice, facing brutal retaliation, harassment, and resistance every step of the way.
#2). THE INVISIBLE WAR
The film reveals the systemic cover up of the crimes against female American soldiers and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. Featuring frank interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress that reveal the combinations of circumstances that exist for Rape Culture to thrive in the American armed forces, its history of cover-up, and what can be done to bring about long overdue change.
#3). SEXY BABY
Aptly titled SEXY BABY paints a particularly disturbing portrait in regards to Winnifred, a middle school student, amidst the rise of a new sexual landscape via the cyber age.
The documentary focuses on other individuals and topics, but the most intriguing aspect are the trials and temptations that the contemporary tween faces thanks to unchecked corporate media that creates hypersexualized youths all in the name of profit. It begs to question if what is truly being exploited are the minds and souls of America's children, not just their bodies. It's a film that left me feeling sorry for 21st century parents.
#4). MISS REPRESENTATION
An analysis of the Hegemonic society that utilizes the media as a gender engineering tool and how this sets into motion the subordination of women in American culture that perpetually undervalues women as individuals in both the political and social arenas.
#5). THE MASK YOU LIVE IN
By the makers of MISS REPRESTATION, this is an excellent juxtaposition film that examines if American masculine culture is not only actually toxic for boys, but ultimately for everyone. Suggesting that American male culture forces boys to suppress their humanity, making many of them dangerous.
#6). INDIA'S DAUGHTER
A harrowing examination of the New Delhi, India bus rape, this BCC special was banned in India. Very tactfully done and not sensationalistic, most telling is the stemmatic violent misogyny that an insulated patriarchy is not only capable of but is capable of justifying - no matter how irrational.
#7). MONDAYS AT RACINE
On the third Monday of every month, sisters Cynthia and Rachel open their Long Island, New York beauty salon to women undergoing chemotherapy. The sisters are determined to give women who are losing their hair, eyebrows and eyelashes a sense of normalcy and dignity in a traumatic and uncertain time.
In this Oscar-nominated short film, Director Cynthia Wade examines what hair means in American culture, and reflects on issues of womanhood, marriage, and survival.
#8). PINK RIBBONS, INC.
A brilliant film about how breast cancer has become less about finding a cure and more about "pink ribbons" becoming an industry. It actually gets pretty revolting and most likely will infuriate you, as it should. Especially in recent lieu of VICE basically making a public service announcement with their special report KILLING CANCER. Any free thinker that regularly questions the status quo establishment truly needs to see this documentary.
#9). BREASTS: A DOCUMENTARY
Even though this is from 1996, it's just as relevant for today's viewer. The fetishizing of the female breast in American culture is challenged by twenty-two women (ranging in age from 11 to 84), with 41 breasts, talking candidly about their breasts, mainly topless. They speak out about adolescence, bras, commercial images of women's bodies, having breast implants or, in one case, a breast reduction, health problems with silicone, doctors' exams gone awry ("I think you have a throat infection, let me examine your breasts"), breasts as power tools and as objects of pleasure, cancer, living with mastectomies, and the effects of time and gravity. Humorous, straightforward, and reflective, it's a classic. If you can find it.
#10). PRIVATE VIOLENCE
A feature-length documentary film and audience engagement campaign that explores a simple, but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home. Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. The knee-jerk response is to ask: “why doesn’t she just leave?” - PRIVATE VIOLENCE discredits the brutality of this logic. Through the eyes of two survivors, we bear witness to the complicated and complex realities of intimate partner violence.
Their experiences challenge entrenched and misleading assumptions, providing a lens into a world that is largely invisible; a world we have locked behind closed doors with our silence, our laws, and our lack of understanding. You will become immersed in the lives of several other women as they attempt to leave their abusers, setting them on a collision course with institutions that continuously and systematically fail them, often blaming victims for the violence they hope to flee. The same society that encourages women to seek true love shows them no mercy when that love turns dangerous. The film poses questions that hold the potential to change our society: “Why does he abuse?” “Why do we turn away?” “How do we begin to build a future without domestic violence?”
#11). ABOUT FACE: SUPERMODELS THEN AND NOW
I personally enjoyed this documentary mainly because it's about the experience of extremely high profile beautiful women and how they went from being naive young women to aging older women. It's interesting how women almost have an abusive relationship with their own bodies and it is very insightful on that topic which many men and younger women who capitalize on their looks fail to completely grasp and accept.
#12). VICE: THE JERSEY SHORE OF ENGLAND
Anything VICE makes is amazing and hard-hitting, this relatively short documentary (which I believe is part of their Fashion Week Internationale series - excellent in its own right) shows the absolutely disgusting and self-inflicting dangers when it comes to obtaining "beauty". There is a tan obsessed woman who injects herself with questionable chemicals that make her physically ill. 'Nuff said.
#13). PLASTIC DISASTERS
This is definitely a terrifying and depressing watch. But anyone considering plastic surgery should view it and hopefully seriously reconsider getting plastic surgery done.
Cosmetic surgery is absolutely unnecessary in most instances and can easily be botched as this documentary portrays. You're better off accepting your appearance as is, after-all it's just a stupid human suit that we're donning.
I can't find a trailer for this film on YouTube, but you can read more about it here.
#14). AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER
Poor Aileen Wuornos. I've been wanting to do a full-length blog on her for awhile. She was unjustly demonized for the sake of media frenzy. Granted she may have killed some men, but she argued vehemently that in many instances it was in self-defense and did not receive a fair trial. A truly tragic character, Wuornos was perhaps molested into madness and was tragically murdered by the state of Flordia.
May she rest in peace, as there was none for her in this world.
#15). CAPTIVATED THE TRIALS OF PAMELA SMART
This is another American woman that did not in any way shape or form receive a fair trial. The 1995 movie TO DIE FOR was based on this true life story, however, TO DIE FOR was based on the media portrayed "truth" that was twisted repeatedly and sensationalized. Pamela Smart wasn't the evil temptress mastermind she was erroneously painted as being. It just goes to show how the media machine loves to spin a narrative for viewership and obfuscate the truth.
#16). BLUE VINYL
Insightful, informative, hilarious, inspiring, and terrifying, BLUE VINYL will forever change the way you look at vinyl no matter what color it is.
#17). GOOD HAIR
Chris Rock said what inspired him to make this film was one of his very young daughters inquiring if or complaining about how she didn't have "good hair" - a beautiful tribute born of a father's love for his daughter, Rock's documentary might be about hair, but it'll hit you right in the gut. It will definitely expand your world perspective and will most likely leave you breathless, awestruck, and even angered.
IN CLOSING:
This list was composed as in a mainly male dominated and male-centric world, female-centric stories struggle to be told. By no means is this a comprehensive list, there's plenty of other documentaries out there that also shed light on the "female mystique" but these tales are a bit more poignant and varied, and can be enjoyed by anyone. These films are educational and enlightening. Happy viewing!
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