Sunday, August 21, 2011

Medusa Documentary Picks: Gender and Society

The following is a list of documentaries that may be of interest to our readers that are currently available online. The descriptions were not written by Medusa staffers and the publication does not necessarily endorse the views portrayed in these documentaries. If you happen to watch one of these documentaries, or any others that you feel may be of interest, feel free to submit a review to us at medusamagazine@gmail.com, or tweet your opinions @medusamagazine.


China’s women have always been under pressure: from men, from family, from work. Now more and more are under new pressure — from themselves — to take control of their lives; to get an education; to have a career; to marry for love. It’s a slow, difficult process, and it is changing China. Mass migration from the countryside to the cities is increasing prosperity, but fracturing families. It also gives women new roles — whether running the farm back home, or as wage-earners in the city.

The film also explores the discrimination suffered by Xinjiang’s Muslim women, the hardships of life in Tibet, and China’s tragic suicide figures: China has one of the highest suicide rates for women in the world: 150,000 a year. One every four minutes. Finally, we see a glimpse of urban life where the younger generation of women has left the countryside for factory work in the cities. The hours and conditions are tough but the women are slowly gaining confidence and independence.


The question that really comes out of this is ‘why are boys behaving in this way?’ ‘Why is 90% of violence committed by boys and men?’ It’s not just in these few places (like video games or movies) but it’s in what passes for normal culture. It is part of the normal training and conditioning and socializing of boys and men. That’s a point that a lot of people don’t want to hear, but if you look at the culture these kids are immersed in, violence is a normal, natural part, not just of the world, but of being masculine or being a male person in the world. It’s not just in these few places (like video games or movies) but it’s in what passes for normal culture.

In this innovative and wide-ranging analysis, Jackson Katz argues that widespread violence in American society, including the tragic school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and elsewhere, needs to be understood as part of an ongoing crisis in masculinity. This exciting new media literacy tool– utilizing racially diverse subject matter and examples– will enlighten and provoke students (both males and females) to evaluate their own participation in the culture of contemporary masculinity.


In the United States the average age of entry into prostitution is just thirteen. The film takes us into the work of a former sexually exploited youth-turned-activist named Rachel Lloyd, who started the New York City organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) to help victimized young women escape their pimps and find another way of life.


Married at 16 years – with 18 years of violence following – left Wendy terrified. She summoned the courage to deal with her husband the only way she knew possible.
Originally as One Minute to Nine, this documentary finally arrives at HBO with a somewhat more in-your-face title – and, in a stark, spare way that has come to characterize the pay channel, delivers a pretty bracing wallop.
A harrowing portrait of domestic abuse, the project draws heavily on video shot by the dead abuser, as his wife, Wendy Maldonado, spends her final days of freedom before going to jail for his murder.
The net result is every bit as chilling and depressing as one might expect. Includes captions for the hearing impaired.


This documentary features the ‘Introduction Services’ available in Thailand to men from overseas seeking Thai women for marriage. Although presented in a fairly light-hearted format, it was very thought-provoking. Of course, to most of us the notion of these agencies is abhorrent to say the least. However, largely due to the style of presentation, it was quite revealing to listen to the viewpoints of the ‘clients’ and owners, who seemed to feel comfortable expressing their views. Louis Theroux’ style, which does not at first appear overly challenging, allows a truer insight into a person’s behaviour and makes him/her less defensive and consequently more candid.


Cutting Edge explores the purity movement in America, where one girl in every six pledges to remain a virgin, or to save her first kiss, until her wedding day. Award-winning documentary-maker Jane Treays investigates whether this decision is made by the girls themselves or their parents, and follows a group of fathers and daughters as they prepare to attend a `purity ball’ in Colorado Springs, run by Randy Wilson and his wife Lisa.


Birth: it's a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to explore the maternity care system in America. Focusing on New York City, the film reveals that there is much to distrust behind hospital doors and follows several couples who decide to give birth on their own terms. There is an unexpected turn when director Epstein not only discovers she is pregnant, but finds the life of her child on the line. Should most births should be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?

Medusa Documentary Picks: Gender and the Body

The following is a list of documentaries that may be of interest to our readers that are currently available online. The descriptions were not written by Medusa staffers and the publication does not necessarily endorse the views portrayed in these films. If you happen to watch one of these documentaries, or any others that you feel may be of interest, feel free to submit a review to us at medusamagazine@gmail.com, or tweet your opinions @medusamagazine.



Fronted by Lisa Rogers, this documentary focuses on the rise in vaginal cosmetic surgery, specifically labiaplasty. For the uninitiated, labiaplasty involves cutting off the inner labia so that they don’t ‘hang’ below the outer labia. Ouch! The labiaplasty business has skyrocketed over the past few years, and Lisa’s mission was to find out why so many women hate the appearance of their vulvas to the point that they’d willingly have pieces of them surgically removed.


The celebrity trend for size zero has been criticised worldwide for encouraging women to starve in secret. This film explores the impact the trend is having on real people living real lives. From Kellie who is striving dangerously to achieve the skinny look, to Victoria who feels that her natural size zero frame is a poisoned chalice, this film exposes the contradictions surrounding women’s perceptions of size.


Fearne Cotton examines the ongoing trend for super-slim women and
immerses herself in the worrying world of pro-ana websites who
encourage anorexia and starvation as a life choice. As Fearne explores the diet and exercise regime of a pro-ana, shell
try some of the extreme regimes that they endorse and meet other girls
whove embraced the same lifestyle. She will explore the seductive
nature of these support groups, examine the world of competitive
dieting, and look at relationships that ordinary women have with each
other when it comes to diet and body image.

(Also see: The latest installment in the series, Killing Us Softly 4)

Jean Kilbourne continues her groundbreaking analysis of advertising’s depiction of women in this installment of the Killing Us Softly series. In fascinating detail, Kilbourne decodes an array of print and television advertisements to reveal a pattern of disturbing and destructive gender stereotypes. Her analysis challenges us to consider the relationship between advertising and broader issues of culture, identity, sexism, and gender violence.

Sections: Does the beauty ideal still tyrannize women? | Does advertising still objectify women’s bodies? | Are the twin themes of liberation and weight control still linked? | Is sexuality still presented as women’s main concern? | Are young girls still sexualized? | Are grown women infantilized? | Are images of male violence against women still used to sell products?


Bruce was a normal boy, not an intersex child, and yet the decision was made to turn this boy who had lost his penis, into a girl. Under the guidance of Dr Money and his team at Johns Hopkins University this baby boy was surgically changed into a girl. After surgeons at Hopkins had castrated baby Bruce, he became baby Brenda. The family were instructed how to bring up Brenda as a normal little girl. According to Dr Money’s theory she would grow up believing herself to be female and would go on to live a normal happy life as a woman. It seemed the ultimate test that nurture could override nature.

Thirty years after Bruce became Brenda, the impact of this extraordinary story continues. After almost 14 years living as a female, Brenda Reimer reverted to her true biological sex – the case of the boy who was turned into a girl had failed. Brenda took the name David and for the last twenty years he has lived anonymously in his hometown of Winnipeg. For almost all this time no one knew the outcome of John Money’s celebrated case. But now that David has gone public, the case is being widely discussed once again and its impact on John Money’s theory of gender development and the treatment of intersex children is being hotly debated.