Category: Feminism



Silent Women: Pioneers of CinemaSilent Women: Pioneers of Cinema by Cheryl Robson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I was given this book by NetGalley.com for my honest review.

Are you old enough to remember the cigarette ad featuring a lady smoking with the words above/below (in magazines) or narrated (on television) “You’ve come a long way, baby.” As I was reading this book I kept picturing myself yelling at that ad, “YEAH! BACKWARDS!”

Before and during the world wars, women helped create the silent pictures (among other pioneering works around the world. The wars had all the men busy so the women had to step in and do those male jobs. And they did great jobs. When the men came back home they closed that all down and ratcheted back to the little woman, barefoot and pregnant, in the kitchen where men believed women belonged. And if you aren’t screaming by the end of this book, you haven’t been paying attention.

This is a non-fiction book with footnotes and references galore. If one were reading a traditional paper-paged book, this would be quite handy to follow the strains of facts. But I found that squeezed at the ends of every chapter, they block the flow of the read. Especially, when one reads using Text-to-Speech. It is part of the reason it took me so long to read this gem of a book. I had to stop and fast forward past all the notes to get to the next chapter. I can forgive the few typos as this was an uncorrected proof.

The meat of the book was great! The author, Cheryl Robson, takes us into the lives and careers of many of the silent screen actresses, camera carriers, clip-room slicers, screen writers, and directors at the beginning of the exciting motion picture days. Back then, women were on equal footing. By the last chapter, you are reminded of these last few years of white-male-dominated Academy Awards.

If you follow my reviews, you know that in the last couple of years I have dedicated myself to reading mostly books written by women featuring strong female characters. This has been an awakening challenge for me. This challenge begat the challenge to watch similar types of TV and movies. I learned of the http://bechdeltest.com/ and started seeing how white-male the world of film is. Thank goodness for the ABC Thursday evening goddess: Shonda Rhimes. She gives me hope.

If you need to see how miraculous an evening of Shonda Rhimes is, take these facts directly from this book (Silent Women): “Women make up 51% of our populations. Minority men 18% so why are women only directing 16% of TV…while minority men are directing 18%?” “Minority women make up 19% of the US population yet direct just 2% of TV shows.” This isn’t just a problem of film. But our young girls aren’t seeing themselves in books or movies. I didn’t. It took me until I was in my 60s to see what had been missing. I only read guys adventures and sci-fis. There weren’t female books beyond the cashmere-sweatered Nancy Drew and other good-little-girls-in-their-places books. Is it any wonder I still can’t speak up for myself? Is it any wonder the populations of girls and ladies in this world still can’t show the force they own? I have said it before: We hold up more than half the sky worldwide. We need to show the world how that force works.

Thank you for letting me read this very important book. It should be required reading for everyone.

View all my reviews

Open Letter to MSNBC


 

Women hold up half the sky give or take a hundred thousand. But who’s counting?
World:
6,895,889,018   3,477,829,638   3,418,059,380
Total                           male                    female

But in the United States we hold up more:
310,383,948         153,139,563         157,244,385
Total                          male                       female
From http://www.geohive.com/earth/pop_gender.aspx

And it seems that might just be part of your target audience. It should be.
Maybe your only demographic is young (30 to 45-year-old) white males. That appears to be who you cater to. Even though I believe there are more baby boomer women around than those spoiled white boys.
I realize 66-year-old white women like me are a minority. Many my age are not computer savvy or politically independent. It is time to speak my mind. I am the parent of three of 30 to 45-year-old white males in your demographic plus a genius daughter who is 34. And they don’t get their news from you. Neither do their friends. The Internet, podcasts, etc. are their choice for news and information. One son does customarily listen to NPR. Take that however you like.
So what is my point? We’ll get there. Patience young Grasshopper.
Here are some names:
Keith Olbermann
Martin Bashir
Krystal Ball
SE Cupp
Abby Huntsman
Touré Neblett
Ari Melber
Edward Schultz
Steve Kornacki
Alex Wagner
Karen Finney
Joy Reid
Oh, and above all Melissa Harris-Perry.
What do they represent? Diversity. Independent thinking. Something I had grown to expect from MSNBC. And all have left or be minimized on what used to be my favorite political news station. And yes, I know many were fired for speaking their minds often given the boot for being exactly who they are. Really? Do you know how angry and insulted your viewers are by this? How much was MSNBC paid by FOX, Drumpf (Thank you, John Oliver, for that affectation. You know who I mean) or some other Republican money bags to lead to this moment?

Oh, I know some of them are still with you, usually only showing their faces too early on the weekend mornings or small bit parts here and there. Some even try to speak on the screaming, yelling ‘Hardball’ with Chris Matthews, who is the rudest to all his correspondents but mostly to those that don’t agree with him (which means you need to say exactly what he wants to hear or he will say it all himself). No, I don’t want him fired either. He just needs to start having manners and letting his guests speak their minds, too.

And don’t even think I want to lose Lawrence O’Donnell, even though I am offended by his constant flirting with younger female guests. I believe his heart is in the right place and his good far outweighs that rudeness. After all, he is a pacifist from California (YAY! Someone not from NY!) Oh, and a Boomer!
And, of course, leave my Rachel Maddow, who is an equal favorite of mine to MHP. And Chris Hayes who feels to me like Rachel’s younger brother must stay. They are respectful, intelligent and creative in their ways to present the news. But those in the above list were all that, too.
What do you have that I hate? ‘Morning Joe.’ It is named for the white male who has a smart woman, Mika Brzezinski, whose name isn’t in the title of the show and is treated with the least amount of respect from the white men. It should be her show or, at least, demonstrate that she is important enough to include her name in the title.
Then there is the cute guy, Thomas Roberts, with the “weather girl.” You deserve recognition that you included someone with his diversity, but still he looks like Ken to the ‘weather girl’s’ Barbie-ness. Frances Rivera. Yes, she is a woman of color. But she is also knowledgeable and deserves her own show or at least allowed at the table because she has a lot to say and her voice is astounding!
If the above is enough to raise my blood pressure to a dangerous level, what is the worst? I said his original name above. I refuse to join in your constant coverage of that name. But let me give you a rundown on how it happened that MSNBC will be blamed for the next Hitler of this country. It started with the grin. Then the secret smile. It ultimately morphed from the “Biggest Clown in the Clown Car” to becoming “Took all the oxygen out of the room.” (Seriously? You couldn’t come up with a better catchphrase than the one FOX used?)

This sensationalism has grown out of proportion, and it is due to YOUR OWN STUPIDITY! Any parent worth their salt knows that attention is attention, good or bad. And the more attention for inappropriate behavior, the more the inappropriate behavior increases.

Using that logic, MSNBC has failed miserably. In worrying about perceived insults from its own family, it lost the voices that were trying to teach about the good people that are running on the Democratic, Progressive, Independent side of this debate. I thought that was who MSNBC was supposed to stand behind. How many of Hillary’s or Bernie’s speeches have been interrupted by the Drumpf show?
Many of those in the list above could have steered the conversation back to the classroom that you should take seriously, as seriously as O’Donnell does his desks. No, this side isn’t as exciting, or funny, or sensational as the clown-car. You could have made information available for the waste of time you’ve presented lately. And we may very well have a Hitler on our hands. And Hitler wasn’t wasn’t taken seriously in the beginning, either. Can you imagine how much worse it all could have been had FOX and MSNBC been in charge in that era of history? You can’t? Well, there’s the proof I needed to show that you don’t listen to the people who used to like your station best.
You have little time but a lot of previous employees who could turn the tide. Let the verbal slights go. There is something far more important at stake. And remember there are still 24 hours in a day and 7 days a week and most everyone has DVR’s. Stop wasting our time with prisons and clowns. And know that more than half of the people that hold up the airwaves watch your station.

 

 

 

 

 


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily


Source: Dar49 Daily

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