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Videos

The lists of videos below are some of the titles that the SU Library owns that cover the fields of Women's Studies. These lists are by no means comprehensive. To find videos on other specific subject areas, such as a particular issue, go to the SU Library Catalog, Basic Search, use Quick Limits, choose "Video-DVD/VHS" and do a keyword search on your issue (for example, body image), and click on "Enter". You should then get a title list of videos dealing with your particular subject.

Below videos have been broken up into their main themes and can be searched by using the links below. You can also browse all the titles by scrolling down. Each listing includes a short summary of the film as well as the location and call number of the film.

Women In Art

Georgia O'Keeffe

Bird - Cassette 6260
Explores the life and work of Georgia O’Keeffe
Ways of Seeing
Law - Videotape ND1142 .W39 1974
Consists of four programs, each presenting the classical arts in different contemporary terms. Considers the ways paintings are distorted by the mass media that transmits them, examines the ways in which women are portrayed in art, discusses paintings as material possessions, and shows how paintings are used in advertising.
 
The Eighteenth Century Woman
Bird - Cassette 5619
Looks at an exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled The eighteenth century woman, a vast collection of costumes, accessories, and objets d’art that reveal the unique ways in which fashionable eighteenth-century women made their presence felt in the society, art, and politics of their time.
 
Louise Nevelson in Process
Bird - Cassette 6259
Sculptor Louise Nevelson is seen at work creating the interior design for a church. She discusses her life and work.
 
Mary Cassatt, Impressionist from Philadelphia
Bird - Cassette 5647
The life and work of Mary Cassatt is traced through her paintings, drawings, and prints. The narration is taken from her letters and journals, which describes her feelings about being a women artist, about living and working in Paris, and about her fellow artists such as Degas and Renoir.
 
Elizabeth Bishop: one art
Bird - Cassette 5327-01
The life of American Poet Elizabeth Bishop, related through photographs, readings of her poems and critical commentary by various poets and writers.
 
Frida Kahlo (1910-1954)
Bird - Cassette 5618
Profiles Frida Kahlo’s work, her interest in politics and her tempestuous relationship with husband Diego Rivera, leader of the Mexican muralist movement.
 
Laments
Bird - Cassette 6485
"This videotape is based on the installation by Jenny Holzer of thirteen stone sarcophagi and thirteen vertical LED (light emitting diode) signboards at the Dia Art Foundation ... March 1, 1989 through February 18, 1990"--Cassette label.
 
Toni Morrison with A.S. Byatt
Bird - Cassette 0015
Toni Morrison has a discussiion with A.S. Byatt, on defining oneself as a writer, the visual as starting point of the novel, Black American literature, comparing spoken with written language, terraine of Black women novelists, the political in writing, and characterisation and style.
 
Guerrillas In Our Midst
Bird - Cassette 8786
Gallery owners comment on the actions of a group of anonymous women artists who call themselves the Guerrilla Girls. Also interviewed are members of the Guerilla Girls, who, dressed in gorrilla masks, work to promote greater representation of women and minority artists in art exhibitions.
 
Reclaiming the Body
Bird - Cassette 8888
"Loosely based on the two-part BAD GIRLS exhibition at The New Museum of Contemporary Art in Manhattan, "Reclaiming the body" goes beyond the scope of the exhibition to include other significant contributors to the history of feminist art. The film spans three generations of artists from Louise Bourgeois to Janine Antoni, to give an overview of feminist art from the 1960s to the present."--Catalog.
 
Inside the Visible
Bird - Cassette 8894
Introduces the art presented at "Inside the Visible," an exhibition of the work of 20th century women artists. Various women artists, scholars, and art historians discuss the impact of women artists on 20th century art.
 
The Female Closet: Alice Austen, Hannah Hoch, Nicole Eisenman
Bird - Cassette 10743
Explores the life and works of three women artists: Alice Austen, a well-to-do American woman of the Victorian era, who took up photography; Hannah Ho¨ch, a German artist who was part of the Dada movement of the 1920’s; and Nicole Eisenman, an American graphic artist of the 1990’s. Explores their lesbianism and how each has or has not been able to deal with lesbian themes in their work.
 
Mary Cassatt: a brush with independence
Bird - Cassette 11027
The extraordinary story of a woman who defied tradition, a painter whose work captivated Edgar Degas, and the only American asked to join the French Impressionists. Best remembered for her tender yet unsentimental depictions of mothers and children, Cassatt was also a driving force for women’s suffrage and other issues of her day.
 
Edith Head: designing woman
Bird - Cassette 11376
"She dressed Hollywood for decades, working as the costume designer for an incredible 1,131 films. She was a household name at a time when those who worked behind the scenes usually stayed there. Edith Head capitalized on Hollywood’s star culture to become a celebrity in her own right. The diminutive designer cultivated the clientele of actresses like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood and Shirley MacLaine to increase her own notoriety, and she routinely spent more time promoting herself and her clothes than she did creating them."--http://www.aande.com.
 
Maya Lin: a strong clear vision
Bird - Cassette 10411
Documentary on the sculptor/architect Maya Lin and her work, which includes the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the Peace Chapel at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., the civil rights memorial in Montogomery, Ala., and more.
 
Isabel Bishop: portrait of an artist
Bird - Cassette 10071
Explores the art of painter Isabel Bishop and how she expresses her experiences and inspirations on canvas.
 
Emma Amos: action lines
Bird - Cassette 8895
Emma Anos, an African American artist, talks about her life and her art.
 

Lesbian/Gay Issues

Before Stonewall: the making of a gay and lesbian community
Bird - Cassette 5892
A social history of homosexuals in America from the 1920s to 1969, showing how this group has moved from a secret shame to the status of a publicly viable minority group. Tells how a group consciousness coalesced after the 1969 police raid on Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, and the three-day riot that followed gained them national publicity and the birth of the gay movement.


For Love and for Life: the 1987 march on Washington for lesbian and gay rights.
Bird - Cassette 5896
Documents the Oct. 11, 1987 march for freedom, justice and life by a half million lesbians and gay men.
The Question of Equality
Bird - Cassette 7305
Using archival footage and interviews, this video set documents the hard-fought gains and heartbreaking losses in the struggle for gay and lesbian equality.
From a secret place: America’s families cope with the coming out process of gay and lesbian youth.
Bird - Cassette 7354
Young lesbians, gays, and their families describe their own "coming out" experiences clearly and poignantly.
Out of the Past
Bird - Cassette 8372
The struggle for lesbian and gay rights in the United States is reviewed. Also featured is the struggle of the Gay Straight Alliance at East High School in Salt Lake City.
The History of Gay & Lesbian Images on Television
Bird - Cassette 11187
Begins with a series of clips of key moments in the history of depicting gays and lesbians on television. Following that, a panel of individuals who have made significant contributions to this area discuss the evolution of gay characters in the medium and the steps they took to bring greater attention to the topic.
Gay Games IV: from A to Q
Bird - Cassette 6807
Highlights from Gay Games IV, held in New York City in June 1994, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary commemoration of the Stonewall riots.
Trembling Before G-d
Bird - DVD 11032
"An unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays people who face a profound dilemma"--Container.
SIS the Perry Watkins Story: Gays in the Military
Bird - Cassette 8744
Explores the issue of gays in the military, focusing on the story of Perry Watkins who served fifteen years in the U.S. Army as an openly gay man before being discharged under the provisions banning homosexuals from serving in the Armed Forces. After a long legal battle to get reinstated, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
Out at Work: a documentary
Law - Videotape HD6285.5.U6 A5 1996
Documents the lives of three gay workers from 1991 to 1996. One is a lesbian who became politically active after being fired from Cracker Barrel restaurant in Georgia. One is a gay man who worked with his union to fight harassment in an auto factory in Detroit. One is a New York Public Library employee who sought health benefits for his partner.
Stonewall 25: global voices of pride and protest
Bird - Cassette 6851
A celebration of 25 years of gay and lesbian history including a visit to the sight of the Stonewall gay bar and footage from the Gay Games.
Not All Parents are Straight
Bird - Cassette 5707
Using casual at-home scenes, background family photographs, scenes from support group rap sessions, and interviews, examines the dynamics of the parent-child relationship within six different families where one or both parents is gay. Explores emotional conflicts within the families, legal custody problems, and the social discrimination which these families face.
Wir hatten ein grosses A am bein = We were marked with a big A
Bird - Cassette 6817
The persecution of homosexuals during the Third Reich is detailed by three survivors (Friedrich-Paul von Groszheim, Kurt von Ruffin, Paul Gerhard Vogel) of the Holocaust in Germany. No gay survivors of the concentration camps had told their stories before this 1991 documentary was produced because they were subject to arrest by West German police under the same law used by the Nazis to imprison thousands of German gays during World War II.
Michael, A Gay Son
Bird - Cassette 3064
Examines the experiences and emotions of homosexuals revealing to their families their chosen life-styles. Follows Michael Collins as he faces this with a peer support group and as he deals with the surfacing issues in a tense family discussion.
Looking for a Space: lesbians & gay men in Cuba
Bird - Cassette 7983
Examines the treatment of lesbians and gay men in Cuba from the early years of the Castro Revolution to the present. Through interviews with several gay Cubans, this film gives the perspectives of current residents of Cuba on questions of political ideology and sexual identity.
Out! Making Schools Safe for Gay Teens
Bird - Cassette 9184
Shows how to combat homophobia through the sensitization of every member of a school community. The first part is intended for staff and features interviews with teachers and counselors as well as tips for forming a gay-straight alliance. The second is designed for students and presents candid interviews with gay teenagers who discuss the reactions of their friends and families and ways in which they have coped with harassment.
If These Walls Could Talk 2
Bird - DVD 11178
Dramatizes the lesbian experience in America in three different decades. "1961" features Redgrave as an older lesbian who is left out of the decision-making process in the wake of her partnerÆs sudden death. "1972" looks at the lesbian role in the feminist movement of the 1970Æs through the eyes of a college-age couple. "2000" features DeGeneres and Stone as a lesbian couple trying to conceive a child.
Pink Triangles
Bird - Cassette 11342
A documentary designed to explore prejudice against lesbians and gay men. Provides a historical perspective for this prejudice and offers a discussion of why this prejudice is so strong.
Off the Straight & Narrow: lesbians, gays, bisexuals & television
Bird - Cassette 8312
Casts a critical eye over the growth of gay images on TV. Leading media scholars provide the historical and cultural context for exploring the social implications of these new representations. Challenges viewers to consider the value and limits of available gay images: who is represented, what they get to say, and how people respond to them.

Body Image

The Famine Within
Bird - Cassette 7459
(Producer) Influenced by the coercive powers of consumerism and the mass media, North American women have come to judge their bodies according to the unrealistic standards of our cultureÆs beauty ideal. The ultra-lean silhouette of the fashion mannequin and the manipulated image of the magazine model have become not only physical standards, but also symbols of competence and success. In pursuit of this simulated, body-centered ideal, many women are laying waste to their energies and self-esteem, and going on to develop the serious eating disorders bulimia and anorexia.
Slim Hopes: advertising and the obsession with thinness
Bird - Cassette 7096
Explores the manner in which women are portrayed by advertising with the focus on thinness. Discusses the impact this portrayal has on the self images of women and girls.
Mirror Mirror
Bird - Cassette 8807
Explores women’s perceptions of their own bodies compared with society’s definition of the "perfect" figure. Women of various ages, races, and body types comment about their own bodies and tell how they think others perceive and treat them based on their physical appearance.
Beyond Killing Us Softly: the impact of media images on women and girls
Bird - Cassette 9376
A documentary about the fight against the toxic and degrading messages to women and girls that dominate the media. The film presents the leading authorities in the fields of psychology of women and girls, eating disorders, gender studies, violence against women, and media literacy -- and focuses their ideas on practical solutions and the best tactics for reclaiming our culture.
Killing Us Softly 3: advertising's image of women
Bird - DVD 11079
Discusses the manner in which women continue to be portrayed by advertising and the effects this has on their images of themselves.
Still killing Us Softly: advertisingÆs image of women
Bird - Cassette 3091
Author Jean Kilbourne explores the images of women, men, and children presented by modern advertising. She illustrates with examples the use of women as sex objects. She also examines the techniques used by advertisers to exploit the insecurities of consumers, particularly the concerns about aging, body image, and sexuality.

Violence/Abuse

Prostitution: a matter of violence against women
Bird - Cassette 5807
In this program, former prostitutes discuss the realities of prostitution.
 
Pornography
Bird - Cassette 9817
Considers the effect of pornography on society and First Amendment protections. Includes segments originally aired on CBS on November 18, 1992, October 8, 1988, and October 17, 1992.
 
Domestic Violence: behind closed doors
Law - Videotape HQ809 .D654 1994
Women who have been abused by men talk about their experiences and describe how they left the abusive relationship and made a new life for themselves and their children. Community support and shelters are essential to help abused women.
 
Defending Our Lives
Law - Videotape HV6626 .D43 1993
Shows the magnitude and severity of domestic violence in this country. This video features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies. Each of these women tells her own horrific tale of beatings, rape and torture at the hands of her husband or boyfriend.
 
Why Women Stay
Law - Videotape HV6250.4.W65 W59 1980
Documentary examines the complex reasons why women remain in violent homes and challenges the prevailing attitudes which accept domestic violence as well as the social structures which perpetuate it.
 
City of Shelter: a coordinated community response to domestic violence
Law - HV 6626 .O26c 2000
The focus of this series is domestic violence between intimate partners.
 
Two Million Women: domestic violence
Bird - Cassette 2266
Takes a look at the emotional and physical effects of domestic violence, which is the greatest cause of injury to American women. Former victims recall their experience and commonly held feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and self-pity.
 
Dreamworlds: desire/sex/power in rock video
Bird - Cassette 6563
The author suggests that the image of women in rock videos reflects a male adolescent dreamworld. In this world, all women are nymphomaniacs who constantly invite sex with any available male. The author examines the factors which produce this image and questions the effect which many hours of viewing this dreamworld might have on male behavior in the real world. Consists primarily of narration over clips from rock videos.
 
Date Rape
Bird - Cassette 7912
A docu-drama of the investiagtion into an alleged rape. Paul walks Sue home, she invites him in for coffee; what happens next leads Sue to accuse Paul of rape. The subsequent investigation is carried out as it would be in real life: with police, a doctor, friends & witnesses. The professionals are real, the other roles are played by actors.
 
Voices Heard Sisters Unseen
Law - Videotape HV6626.2 .V65 1995
Battered women relate their experiences through a variety of forms of expression--poetry, journals, performance art, etc.
 
All about TV, TV as teacher: decoding the messages
Bird - Special Collections- Lower Level --Video Recording B1044
 
Battered Women Under Siege
Bird - Cassette 9704
Why do some men beat (and even kill) the women they profess to love? In this program, women battered by husbands or boyfriends speak out about their experiences. Their stories create a mosaic of pain and fear, courage and determination, while answering the question: "Why did you stay with him?" The case of Lisa Bianco, who relied on the due process of law for protection and was murdered by her ex-husband,is included.
 
The Color Purple 
Bird - DVD 9593
An uneducated woman living in the rural American South who was raped by her father, deprived of the children she bore him and forced to marry a brutal man she calls "Mister" is transformed by the friendship of two remarkable women, acquiring self-worth and the strength to forgive.
 
Sisters in the Struggle
Bird - Cassette 0244
Examines the roles of Canadian Black women in the struggle for human rights and features woman who are active in community organizing, electoral politics and labor and feminist organizing. Focusing on events in Canada since the 1970’s, the women articulate some of the challenges (racism, sexism, violence against women) they face going into the 1990’s.
 
The Hot Head of the House
Bird - Cassette 2242
"It’s an unpleasant fact that people who swear they love each other will batter each other. In most circumstances, the men beat the women. That’s not always true, but often enough that the phrase "wife beating" is an accepted part of our language." Steve Delaney interviews battered wives and the husband or boyfriend that did the battering; discusses with counselors and legal personnel why people batter and the rehabilitation processes. Actual cases are discussed.
 
The Nature of the Beast
Law - Videotape HV6626.2 .N27 1995
Documentary on a battered woman who is serving the longest prison sentence of any woman in Connecticut--45 years--without the possibility of parole. She accidentally shot and killed a pregnant woman in an attempt to protect herself from a man who was physically assaulting her.
 
Against My Will
Bird - Cassette 8155
Investigates violence against women in Pakistan, where concepts of family honor and the status of women as property perpetuate the practice of "honor killing", the murder of women by male relatives for behavior deemed socially or morally unacceptable. One of the women interviewed at the Dastak women’s shelter in Lahore, Kubra, is murdered three weeks after she returns to her family.
 
House on Fire
Bird - Cassette 8155
The Caribbean has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world. Triggered by unemployment and drug use, it’s also perpetuated by a culture that still fails to condemn violence against women, and sexual violence in particular, as a crime.
 
Rule of Thumb: order of protection
Law - Videotape HV 8079 .S67 R8 1989
Missouri’s Adult Abuse Act allows women to obtain an order of protection in two short court procedures. Five abused women and various police and court personnel explore the dynamics of abusive relationships. The tape also provides a checklist for a woman to use when making a safety plan for herself and her children.
 
Tough Guise: violence, media, and the crisis in masculinity
Bird - DVD 10378
Looks systematically at the relationship between the images of popular culture and the social construction of masculine identities in the US in the late 20th century. In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that there is a crisis in masculinity and that some of the guises offered to men as a solution (rugged individualism, violence) come loaded with attendant dangers to women, as well as other men. Includes interview with Jackson Katz.
 
No Longer Alone
Bird - Cassette 2087
Through personal interviews and group discussions, residents and support staff at shelters for battered women discuss their experiences with domestic violence. Professionals explore the cycle of abuse from the viewpoints of the victim and the aggressor and examine its impact on children.
 
The Childern We Sacrifice
Bird - Cassette 8827
A documentary that confronts the myths and silences about incestuous sexual abuse of the girl child in South Asian communities. Includes personal stories by survivors from India, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United States as well as feminist observations by activists and women-empowering psychotherapists working on the issue in both South Asia and Diaspora.
 
Of Hopscotch and Little Girls: childhood stolen
Bird - DVD 11604
Hopscotch embodies the spirit of childhood, and little girls all over the world play it. But all too often, particularly in nonindustrialized nations, girls’ childhoods are stolen, their dreams for the future shattered. Often denied access to education, girls are far more likely to assume household responsibilities, be conscripted into the workforce, be pushed into early marriages, and endure sexual abuse and, in some cases, mutilation. This provocative program features girls from around the globe who share their stories of abuse and neglect, and also their hopes and dreams, in a world that too often considers them second-class citizens.
 

International Issues

Border crossings: are women international citizens at the Millennium
Bird - DVD 8776
Second lecture of the five-part spring 2000 "Millennium Women" Faculty Milestones Lecture series. Professor Beverly Allen, professor of language, literature & linguistics at Syracuse University, speaks of her personal experiences writing about women’s issues in the aftermath of the war in Bosnia. She explains how, after years of identifing, and sometimes marginalizing, women’s issues, the international community is beginning to recognize that such issues affect the group as a whole.
 
Retrun of Sara Baartman
Bird - Cassette 10829
Chronicles the return of the remains of Sara Baartman, a Black woman who had been exhibited as a freak in early nineteenth-century Europe. Her remains were returned to South Africa from France, where they had been kept at the Museum of Man (Muse´e L’Homme). On April 29, 2002, Sara’s remains were officially handed back to the South African people at an emotionally charged ceremony at the country’s Embassy in Paris and, on August 9 (National Women’s Day), she was ceremonially buried on the banks of the Gamtoos River. Sara’s repatriation involved years of lobbying by people in South Africa, including Professor Phillip Tobias, South African poet Diana Ferrus, and French senator Nicolas About who, when told that only a law could force the country to give up Baartman, introduced one.
 
Puerto Rico, el paraiso invadido
Bird - Cassette 8355
Film presents a view of life of Puerto Rican Rican women in New York as well as in Puerto Rico. Special emphasis is placed on the role and views of Puerto Rican women in the move for independence from the United States.
 
Cross Cultural Comparisons
Bird - Cassette 11559
Examines male and female roles in cultures outside of the United States. The first lecture focuses on marriage customs in India, footbinding in China, and female circumcision in Islamic societies. The second lecture focuses on China, Sweden, and the former Soviet Union as examples of societies that are working towards equality for women.
 
Mrs. President: women and political leadership in Iran
Bird - Cassette 10295
In the 2001 election for President of Iran, none of the women candidates were allowed to run, based on the Guardian Council’s interpretation of the Constitution. A presentation of interviews with six of the female candidates, and commentaries of two female Iranian journalists, discussing their efforts to change governmental and public opinion regarding the role of women in Iranian society.
 
Women Speak Up
Bird - Cassette 7533
A colorful collage of plenaries, workshops, interviews, spontaneous events and music from the Fourth United Nation’s International Women’s NGO (non-governmental organization) Forum that took place in Huairou, China concurrent with and related to the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, from September 4-15, 1995.
 
Fire Trial
Bird - Cassette 8882
Banned in India, this film was the first to confront lesbianism in that country.
 
Visages de Femmes/Faces of Women
Bird - Cassette 10976
Politically and stylistically adventurous film exploring the links between feminism, economics and tradition in modern-day Africa; stories of two women who daily face hardship and obstacles, mainly as a result of traditional social mores, and explore ways to better their lot, to gain a measure of commercial and cultural freedom and equality.
 
Shackled Women
Bird - Cassette 9963
Program assesses second- and Third-World abuses of women’s rights by the male establishment and examines how female collaboration sometimes contributes to their perpetuation. Topics include: dowry deaths, female circumcision, the Islamic zina law, the rigors of hijab, female infanticide, and child prostitution.
 
Miss Universo en el Peru
Bird - Cassette 7308
In 1982 the Miss Universe Pageant was held in Lima, Peru. This program contrasts the public spectacle of the Miss Universe Pageant, its sponsors’ commercial promotions, and its presentation on Peruvian television with the economic and political realities of contemporary Peruvian women.
 
In Secular India
Bird - Cassette 7168
A documentary dealing with the rights of Muslim women under Indian secular law and its conflict with Muslim personal law.
 
In The Time of Butterflies
Bird - DVD 10286
An idealistic young woman falls for a rebel leader and takes on a murderous dictator. Today, November 25 is observed in many Latin American countries as the International Day Against Violence Towards Women. This is based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, whose deaths became the final blow to the regime of Leonidas Trujillo, who was assassinated six months later.
 
Rape: a crime of war
Bird - Videotape HV6569.B54 R36 1996
Four women share their stories of forced confinement and rape in Bosnia. We meet the men who have perpetrated the crimes, who claim they were acting upon a higher authority. In the Hague, where the International Tribunal is investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, we meet legal consultants who discuss the implications of the trial of a former camp boss, the first person in international history to be indicted for rape as a war crime.
 
Daughters of de Beauvoir: Simone de Beauvoir and her influence on the women's movement
Bird - Cassette 6524
Through the eyes of the women she influenced, a portrait of Simone de Beauvoir’s unique personality and unconventional life style emerges. Here is an in-depth look at one of the leading figures in the international women’s movement.
 
A Nice Arrangement
Bird - Cassette 7971
Set in the London home of an Indian family on the morning of their daughter’s wedding, Menna, the young bride, changes into her traditional bridal gear with the help of her divorced friend, Sita. Together, the women discuss Indian marriage customs and why they chose to marry the "perfect" cultural choice for their parents.
 
The Sky: a silent witness
Law - Videotape HQ1236 .S6 1996
Women from Guatemala, the United States, China, Bangladesh, Tibet and Bosnia discuss issues related to the denial of women’s rights throughout the world.
 

Women's Health/AIDS

Invisible Women
Bird - Cassette 6359
A film about women and AIDS
 
Fighting For Our Lives: women confronting AIDS
Bird - Cassette 5816
Portrays the strengths and strategies of women of color who are leaders in confronting HIV disease. Presents images of self-empowerment by describing six women-led programs in various parts of the U.S.
 
The Pill
Bird - Cassette 10120
(Producer) Chronicles little known chapters in the history of the birth control pill. Examines how far the pharmaceutical industry was willing to risk women’s health. Interviews women from Puerto Rico who became unsuspecting test subjects. Provides insights from women health activists who questioned the high-dose version’s safety, and testimony from scientists who developed the pill.
 
Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter
Bird - Cassette 9365
(Producer) Chronicles the various stages of a mother’s Alzheimer’s disease and the evolution of a daughter’s response to the illness. The desire to cure the incurable--to set right her mother’s confusion and forgetfullness, to temper her mother’s obsessiveness--gives way to an acceptance which is finally liberating for both daughter and mother.
 
Women's Health
Bird - Cassette 7017
In June and July, 1994, Samuel Gorovitz (Professor of Philosophy and of Public Administration at Syracuse University) led a seminar on Comparative Health Policy in London, Oslo, Geneva, and New York City. Many distinguished lecturers addressed the 17 students (from 15 American and Canadian universities).
Ms. Rodmell surveys professional concerns in England related to women’s health, such as cervical, breast, and lung cancer, and compares them to primary health concerns of women in their middle years, such as strength, menopause, back and joint problems, sleeping difficulties, and urinary control. She demonstrates the large gap between professional concerns about women’s health and the concerns of women themselves. She discusses patterns of smoking behavior within differnt segments of the community, the relationship between socio-economic status and risk behavior, and indicators of inequality which have a direct impact on women’s health.
 
Dialogues with Madwomen
Bird - Videotape RC451.4.W6 D63 1993
Captures the experiences of seven women who have experienced the dark side of the imagination -- multiple personality, manic-depression, schizophrenia, euphoria.
 
Genetic Testing for Cancer Risk: it's your choice
Sci-Tech Documents Room - HE 20.3152:B 75/KIT
(Producer) This video, narrated by ABC News correspondent, Cokie Roberts, presents a balanced view of genetic testing, and neither recommends nor discourages its use. The video will help answer women’s questions about the complex and profound issues of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancers, including how it is done, what the results mean, and what effects the results may have on them and their families. Women want and need to know more about genetic testing for cancer risk, and health care professionals must be able to provide counsel to their patients. A companion brochure and fact sheet have also been provided to help facilitate the educational process. The materials are not intended to replace a genetic counseling session with a qualified health care professional, but rather to inform consumers about a host of critical issues to consider before making a decision about genetic testing.
 
Femmes aux yeux ouverts/Women with Open Eyes
Bird - Cassette 7454
Profiles contemporary African women in four West African countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Benin. We meet a woman active in the movement against female genital mutilation, a health care worker educating women about sexually transmitted diseases, and businesswomen who describe how they have set up an association to share expertise and provide mutual assistance.
 
Is it Hot in Here? A film about menopause
Bird - Cassette 2827
Contributes to the emergence of a positive and realistic view of menopause. Explores the major aspects of menopause through interviews with medical and health professionals and with lay women who share their experiences. Also looks at the benefits of hormone replacement therapy, osteoporosis, surgical menopause, and sexuality and aging.
 
Nobody Ever Died of Middle Age
Bird - Cassette 2456
Shows simple steps that men and women can take to stay in shape and beat the gradual decline in physical work capacity common in middle age.

Abortion

Roe vs. Wade
Law - Reserves - Videotape KF228.R68 R6 1989
Based on the true story of the 1973 challenge to a Texas law forbidding abortion. The case was ultimately argued all the way to the Supreme Court, and changed U.S. history.
 
From Danger to Dignity: the fight for safe abortion
Law - Reserves - Videotape HQ767.5.U5 F7 1995
A documentary on the efforts to legalize abortion in the United States and on the social and medical dangers of illegal abortions prior to Roe vs. Wade. Also portrays the underground network that helped women procure safe illegal abortions.
 
Abortion: for survival
Bird - Cassette 5754
Shows how the denial of abortion affects not only women’s lives in the United States but also in the third world countries.
 
Personal Decisions
Bird - Cassette 5897
An intimate look at the forces that shape one of the hardest decisions a woman will ever have to make, whether or not to have an abortion.
 
Abortion Denied: shattering young women's lives
Bird - Cassette 5894
Shows the effect that parental consent and notification laws have on young women’s rights to legal abortion.
 
Committed to Choice: women of faith speak on reproductive freedom
Bird - Cassette 7301
Women from a variety of religious backgrounds discuss their views on abortion. Special emphasis is placed on religious aspects of this issue.
 
Abortion, the moral dilema
Bird - Cassette 7092
Presents a personal dilemma related to the topic of abortion, which is then discussed by a Catholic bio-ethicist, a clinical geneticist, and an Asian woman politician.
 
Abortion
Bird - Cassette 7093
This gripping 48 Hours program looks at the dilemma of women who want to terminate their pregnancies in the face of public controversy over abortion--and at the effect of the resulting confrontation on the women themselves.
 
Jane: an abortion service
Bird - Cassette 9364
(Producer) This political look at a little-known chapter in women’s history tells the story of "Jane," the Chicago-based women’s health group who performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions between 1969 and 1973 with no formal medical training. As Jane members describe finding feminism and clients describe finding Jane, archival footage and recreations mingle to depict how the repression of the early sixties and social movements of the late sixties influenced this unique group. Both vital knowledge and meditation on the process of empowerment, this documentary showcases the importance of preserving women’s knowledge in the face of revisionist history.
 
The Fragile Promise of Choice
Bird - Cassette 10215
(Producer) Vignettes from around the country, news footage, and interviews combine to show how restrictive legislation, funding cutbacks, and anti-choice violence affect abortion’s availability and how activists and clinicians are working to preserve abortion access.
 
When Abortion Was Illegal: untold stories
Bird - Cassette 10217
Presents the stories of women who had illegal abortions from 1930 to 1960, along with comments of doctors and others who helped them deal with later trauma.
 
If These Walls Could Talk
Bird - DVD 11179
In this trilogy, different women face different social and political climates in choosing what to do about an unplanned pregnancy. In 1952, a recently widowed nurse (Demi Moore) must decide whether to go through with an illegal abortion. In 1974, a mother of four (Sissy Spacek) struggles to raise a family and have a career shortly after abortion was legalized. In 1996, a college student (Anne Heche) decides on getting an abortion during a climate of violence (doctor played by Cher). The stories span over 40 years and are set in the same house.
 
Une Affaire de Femmes/Story of Women
Bird - Cassette 9032
In this chilling recreation of a real-life criminal case, Isabelle Huppert plays Marie Latour, a beautiful and childish woman whose life and destiny are changed when she performs an abortion for a distraught neighbor during World War II.
 
Mr. Justice Blackmun
Law - Reserves - Videotape KF4541.Z9 I5 1987 T.2
Moyers interviews the Supreme Court Justice who wrote the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion. Moyers and Blackmun discuss the emotional and moral challenge of interpreting the Constitution.

Law/Politics

Roe vs. Wade
Law - Reserves - Videotape KF228.R68 R6 1989
Based on the true story of the 1973 challenge to a Texas law forbidding abortion. The case was ultimately argued all the way to the Supreme Court, and changed U.S. history.
 
Mrs. President: women and political leadership in Iran
Bird - Cassette 10295
In the 2001 election for President of Iran, none of the women candidates were allowed to run, based on the Guardian Council’s interpretation of the Constitution. A presentation of interviews with six of the female candidates, and commentaries of two female Iranian journalists, discussing their efforts to change governmental and public opinion regarding the role of women in Iranian society.
Running Mate: gener and politics in editorial cartoons
Bird - Cassette 8000
Analyzes gender imagery in editorial cartoons from the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign, when Geraldine Ferraro was the first woman nominated for Vice-President by a major party. Also includes interviews with Ms. Ferraro and cartoonists Signe Wilkinson, Tom Toles, and M.G. Lord.
Blind Justice: women and the law
Law Library - Reserves - Videotape HQ1122 .B58 1993
Four animated segments trace the ways in which justice has been applied to women in Western society: the origins of basic concepts of Western law in ancient Greece, the inherent bias of tribunals and courts of law, a case where a villain gets away with murder, and the effect of imprisonment on young girls.
Sisters in the Struggle
MLK - Cassette 0244
Examines the roles of Canadian Black women in the struggle for human rights and features woman who are active in community organizing, electoral politics and labor and feminist organizing. Focusing on events in Canada since the 1970’s, the women articulate some of the challenges (racism, sexism, violence against women) they face going into the 1990’s.
Iron Jawed Angels
Bird - Cassette 11674
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns were two defiant suffragist women who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment. The two activists broke from the mainstream women’s rights movement and created a more radical wing, daring to push the boundaries to secure women’s voting rights in 1920. In a country dominated by chauvinism, this is no easy fight. Along the way, sacrifices are made: Alice gives up a chance for love, and collegue Inez Mulholland gives up her life.
The Woman Advocate
Law Library - Reserves - Videotape KF299.W6 W613 1993
"A special conference sponsored by the Section of Litigation, American Bar Association and Prentice Hall Law & Business ... co-chairs, Andra Barmash Greene, Jean Maclean Snyder."--Course book, t.p.
Recorded April 1-2, 1993, in New York City.
The Power Game
Bird - Cassette 6741
There is a complex relationship between women and institutional power. This program examines what female power means, both to those who exercise it and to those who are affected by it. Geraldine Ferraro shares her reflections on women in political power.
Race, Gender, Power in America
MLK - Cassette 0065
Proceedings of the conference ’Race, Gender and Power in America’ held at Georgetown University Law Center, Friday, Oct. 16, 1992.
In Secular India
Bird - Cassette 7168
A documentary dealing with the rights of Muslim women under Indian secular law and its conflict with Muslim personal law.

Literature/Poetry/Drama

Maya Angelou
Bird - Cassette 5795
Maya Angelou discusses writing through the black experience, the human spirit in adversity, and prose and poetry readings.
 
Toni Morrison with A.S. Byatt
MLK - Reference - Cassette 0015
Toni Morrison has a discussiion with A.S. Byatt, on defining oneself as a writer, the visual as starting point of the novel, Black American literature, comparing spoken with written language, terraine of Black women novelists, the political in writing, and characterisation and style.
 
A Room of One's Own
Bird - Cassette 7658
Eileen Atkins’ one-woman stage performance recreates Virginia Woolf’s 1929 talk to the women of Girton College, Cambridge. A call to women to declare their independence, talent and freedom to write, think, love and labor, and to control their own destinies, yet realize necessary communion on all levels between men and women.
 
Lorraine Hansberry: the Black experience in the creation of drama
Bird - Cassette 8827
MLK - Cassette 0008
Traces the artistic growth and vision of the black playwright Lorraine Hansberry, largely in her own words and in her own voice. Describes the author’s childhood in Chicago, student days at the University of Wisconsin, work as a journalist in Harlem, life as a housewife in Greenwich Village, and success on Broadway.
 
Adriane Rich
Bird - Cassette 8654
Readings by and conversations with poet Adriane Rich; (Tape 1) on May 14, 1992, in Los Angeles: reading from An Atlas of the difficult world, Diving into the wreck, and The Fact of a doorframe; also an interview with Michael Silverblatt. (Tape 2) On February 3, 1988, a reading from Snapshots of a daughter-in-law, The Dream of a common language, and Midnight salvage; also a interview with Eavan Boland.
 
Two or Three Things, But Nothing For Sure
Bird - Cassette 8787
Author Dorothy Allison reads excerpts from Two or three things I know for sure, Skin, and Trash.
 
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
MLK - Cassette 0252
Young Maya leads a precarious existence in racist, Depression-era Arkansas, where she is shunted between her grandmother’s house and mother’s (where she is raped), and withdraws into total silence. She endures to share her realization in her valedictory address: "In order to lift your voice, you have to lift your head."
 
Zora Is My Name!
MLK - Cassette 0314
A dramatization of the life of Zora Neale Hurston, who wrote of the folklore of the rural South.
 
Kay Boyle
Bird - Cassette 8662
"Kay Boyle (1902-1992) ... published more than 30 books of fiction, criticism, and poetry ... This program documents her final public reading ... from This is not a letter and other poems and Testament for my students ... [she] was interviewed by ... Shawn Wong"--Container.
 
Pattiann Rogers
Bird - Cassette 8640
"Pattiann Rogers’ poetry is widely noted for its astonishing, sensual, and accurate detailing of the biological, botanical, and zoological worlds. [She] ... read from Geocentric, The tattooed lady in the garden, Splitting and binding, and unpublished work ... on May 4, 1993, in Los Angeles and talked with Michael Silverblatt"--Container.
 
Black American Literature
Bird - Cassette 5437
A survey of the development of black American literature from the 1890’s to the 1930’s, examining the achievements of the authors who consolidated the Afro-American literary tradition at the turn of the century, the major poets and novelists of the Harlem Renaissance, and the black women writers who provide a unique, double perspective on racial and sexual oppression in their work.
 
Gloria Naylor
Bird - Cassette 5799
Naylor discusses her life and writings, especially as she attempts to represent the experiences of Black women in America.
 
Black Women Writers
MLK - Cassette 0002
A discussion dealing with criticism by black men that black women writers have achieved their success by focusing criticism on black males.
 
Paris Was a Woman
Bird - Cassette 7877
Documents the creative community of women who gravitated to the Left Bank during the early part of the 20th century.
 
Sonia Sanchez
Bird - Cassette 8655
"Sonia Sanchez is a dynamic poet, playwright, activist, and teacher. [She] read from ’homegirls & handgrenades’ and ’Under a soprano sky’ on September 17, 1990, at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. ... [and] was interviewed by poet Lewis MacAdams"--Container.
 
Writing Women's Lives
Bird - DVD 11295
Eight prominent contemporary women authors tell about what matters to them in regard to childhood, love, marriage and children, starting out, the creative process, publishing, politics, philosophy, success and motivation.
 
Joy Hario
Bird - Cassette 8671
Presents Joy Harjo as she discusses her work and reads from her poetry, including "The woman who fell from the sky", "Secrets from the center of the world", "In mad love and war", and "She had some horses." Also excerpts from an interview with Greg Sarris.
 
The Dream Keepers
MLK - Cassette 0235
Presents the history of African-American artists (authors, dancers, dramatists) in the turbulent years after World War II through the mid-sixties. In the period from 1940 thru 1965 racial barriers were steadily being broken and a stunning series of African-American firsts in many fields helped with racial inequities. Some fields, however, still remained closed.
 
Identifiable Qualities: a film on Toni Morrison
Bird - Cassette 7419
Interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning black novelist Toni Morrison. She addresses the events of the Sixties which led her to write her first novel The Bluest Eye; the use of personal experiences as sources for her strong, black female characters; and the advantage to publishers of placing black writers in the mainstream.
 
Gaja Gamini
Bird - DVD 10365
The film, an operatic ballet, moves between illusion & reality. It depicts the journey of a woman called Gaja Gamini, suspended in time and space along with a variety of characters from art, history, music & poetry. These characters, voicing the aesthetics of feminine beauty, are points of reference and interact with each other on the essence & identity of woman.
 
For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf...
MLK - Cassette 0067
The visions and frustrations of seven young women who are trying to come to terms with themselves and with being Black. With song, poetry and dance they celebrate their strength, beauty, and enormous capacity for love.
 
Sylvia Plath
Bird - Cassette 5327-09
The life and career of American poet Sylvia Plath, related through photographs, dramatizations, readings from her works and anecdotal commentary by her mother, her teachers, various friends and other poets and writers.
 
Marianne Moore
Bird- Cassette 5327-08
The life and career of American poet Marianne Moore, related through photographs, film clips, readings of her poetry and critical and anecdotal commentary by other poets, writers and literary critics.
 
Emily Dickinson
Bird - Cassette 5327-03
The life of American poet Emily Dickinson is related through photographs, readings of her poetry and the interpretive comments of other poets and writers.


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