FEMINIST FRIDAY: Documentaries Celebrating The Work Of Gloria Allred & Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Welcome to another Feminist Friday, the part of our week where we share a handful of our fave feminist videos we can’t get enough of right now. This week it’s all about iconic and barrier-breaking women who have paved new pathways for others. The first is US Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is the subject of a new documentary called ‘RBG’ (duh!).

From filmmakers and directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen whose film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, this documentary follows the ground-breaking work of this judge and advocate, who started her legal career fighting for women’s rights. The filmmakers also wanted to show a side of the iconic SCOTUS judge that the public had not seen before, including a glimpse into her personal life, and how she really is an unsung hero of the modern women’s rights movements.

Listen, all you have to do is tell us “there’s a film about the badass and notorious RBG” and we.are.in. Watch the filmmakers talk about their documentary in the video below:

The second video is a trailer for a documentary called ‘Woman on Fire’, sharing the inspiring story of New York City’s first transgender firefighter, directed by Julie Sokolow. For Brooke Guinan, fighting fires runs in her blood–both her father and grandfather served in the FDNY. But as a transgender woman, her path to service has not been without obstacles.

Transitioning from male to female in what is still an overwhelmingly macho profession proves a challenge for her coworkers and her family, while her boyfriend reckons with the impact of Brooke’s newly public profile on his parents. Beyond evoking a heartfelt portrait of change in the American family and workplace, ‘Woman on Fire’ is a testament to love, courage, and loyalty.

At a time when there is still sadly so much misinformation, fear and bigotry being spread about the LGBTQ community, when we see more media and stories about transgender individuals that allow people to see them as fellow humans, it is a step in the right direction. Watch the trailer below:

The last video is a trailer to the Netflix documentary ‘Seeing Allred’, encapsulating the work of prominent lawyer and women’s rights activist Gloria Allred. She is most recently notable for her work defending Bill Cosby and Donald Trump’s sexual assault victims, and never backing down from a fight.

Her own personal story is one of triumph and strength. The Civil Rights Attorney came up through her career fighting for women’s rights, sexual harassment and race at a time when it was not popular. She also talked about an horrific moment in her life when she was raped at gunpoint while on vacation in Mexico in 1966, which resulted in an illegal abortion that almost killed her.

Like Justice Ginsburg, the work Gloria Allred has done throughout her career has made up crucial pieces of American history that eventually paved the way for landmark SCOTUS cases and legislative decision such as Roe v Wade and Title IX. She has of course received her fair share of criticism and hatred from right wing media, as portrayed in the film, but nevertheless, she has persisted and become an important part of the fabric of the women’s rights movement today.

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