“Makers:” A documentary on feminism
By: LaToya Bowlah
“Because I have a brain, a uterus, and I use both,” said social-justice activist, Letty Pogrebin on an episode of MSNBC’s weekday television program, Morning Joe. She revealed a snippet of what former Congresswoman, Patricia Schroeder said in the upcoming PBS documentary, “Makers,” scheduled to premier on February 26th, 2013 at 8 PM.
The Atlas statue at Rockefeller Plaza, NY, which was installed in 1937, coincides with the dominant masculine culture, feminists sought to push-back during the 1st and 2nd waves of feminism.
Photo by: LaToya Bowlah
Schroder had said this in response to, “an old man on The Hill,” who inquired about how it was possible for a woman to be both a Congresswoman and a mother; but Pogrebin’s reiteration emblemized the inescapable challenge of the modern American women. That is, to simultaneous juggle multiple roles at once.
A family of four with the father as the care-taker figure walking around Rockefeller Plaza, is increasingly common with women now taking on the role of the breadwinner in households.
Photo by: LaToya Bowlah
Now that past advocates have achieved feats and bounds, women like Abby Pogrebin, reporter and daughter of Letty Pogrebin, face a new challenge. In, “Makers,” according to the Pogrebins’ interview on Morning Joe, Abby Pogrebin reveals intimate details about working as a producer for 60 Minutes, after recently having her first child.
Abby Pogrebin explained that she had to make the difficult, but plausible choice of adjusting her career life to cater to her home life.“Makers,” details this journey from exclusion to fairness and equality to the challenges facing women today. According to the “Makers” blog, the documentary dives into stories of those who opposed feminism, like Phyllis Schlafly and Beverly LaHaye, as well as famous faces like Oprah Winfrey, Katie Couric and Hillary Clinton, and the many often unrecognized women who grappled with what equality meant in their own lives.
A Gap clothing advertisement at 5th Avenue’s subway station with a woman walking in line amongst men.
Photo by: LaToya Bowlah
It also includes the often unheard but instrumental stories of the women who confronted the bull of inequality in the coal mines of West Virginia and the boardrooms of Madison Avenue.
Pogrebin said it best: “Makers” is, “the history of the women’s movement that the movement couldn’t afford to give itself.”
