The Weekly Muse: Celebrating Women’s Equality Day, Empowering Change 👩💕
As we commemorate Women’s Equality Day on August 26th, we reflect on the progress achieved in the fight for gender equality and the transformative journey that lies ahead. 💕
This significant day honors the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1920, a pivotal moment in granting women the right to vote. But beyond the suffrage movement, Women’s Equality Day serves as a reminder of the broader struggle for justice, representation, and empowerment across the globe. 🌏 ✊
Let’s recognize that the power to reshape society’s narrative lies within us. In our pursuit of change, storytelling becomes an instrument of transformation. Through literature, TV shows, and movies, we can amplify narratives that challenge traditional gender roles, highlight the strength of women, and spotlight diverse voices. 📣
This Women’s Equality Day, we invite you to explore stories that inspire change.
These pieces of advice from kickass historical women are fun, smart, and might be the inspiration you need.
In What Would Cleopatra Do? authors Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates give readers bite-sized stories from the lives of notable women across history, accompanied by practical advice about how to apply lessons from their actions to modern life. They profile everyone from first century warrior queen Bouadicea to 20th century pediatrician Fe del Mundo, covering almost every continent and recorded century. What Would Cleopatra Do? is a great primer for young feminists or anyone who wants to diversify their feminist icons.
Are you into realistic but celebratory stories of women breaking down barriers or you’re a fan of punk history?
Vivien Goldman has been a punk musician and writer in the punk scene since the beginning. In Revenge of the She-Punks, Goldman tells the story of the women who helped pioneer punk and highlights women building punk careers around the world. She celebrates the wide diversity of not-male musicians who are telling their stories through music, while lamenting the way early women in punk were forced out of the game. Her “revenge” isn’t a violent reprisal for these slights. It’s the process of celebrating the bands who weren’t given enough of a chance.
You seek out true untold stories, and you’re all about gender equality.
Mercury 13, a documentary about the 13 women pilots who participated in an astronaut training program during the 1950s/1960s space race, shouldn’t be a revolution to any of us. But it is. Until we watched this movie, we had no idea this program existed, or that NASA eventually barred these women from becoming astronauts. We were engaged by the storytelling, particularly the present-day interviews with some of the women, but we were also angry. This movie stoked a fire in our bellies and determination in our hearts not to let past decisions dictate the future.
You’re up for a documentary that doesn’t hold back in the fight for equality.
Miss Representation is a handful of hard truths about how the world’s most influential industry, the media, portrays women. It’s incredibly alarming because it’s so real. And because it’s real, we need to acknowledge it. The documentary does just that by tackling a crucial question: When we are so surrounded by derogatory messages about the most powerful women in the world, how can any woman ever be expected to be taken seriously?
The Handmaid’s Tale follows June, a woman living in Gilead. Gilead is an oppressive theocracy that overthrew the American government and abuses women for their ability to bear children, among other things. The show is gorgeous, though the later seasons do lose the tight focus of the early ones. Actually, we’ll be the first to admit the series goes off the rails around season 3. But The Handmaid’s Tale novel is a classic for a reason, and we’re still watching. CWs for wanton violence, rape, misogyny, blanket sexual trauma, homophobia.
Paper Girls: It’s 1988, and the music is amazing. It’s Erin’s first early morning shift as a paper girl. When Erin argues with a customer, Tiff steps in. Suddenly, Erin has her first friend. Tiff introduces her to veteran paper girls Mac and KJ, who know they need to stick together. When the foursome are attacked and Tiff’s walkie-talkie is stolen, they chase the thieves and are surprised by a cloud of pink light… which somehow drops them into the future, right into year 2022. That’s the opening excitement to this exhilarating sci-fi, and the rest is diamond studded TV brilliance.
Want more recommendations like these? Explore Narrative Muse and discover new stories by (and about) intersectional underrepresented folks.
P.S. Have a story you think more people should know about and want to share with your fellow Musers? Sign up to be a curator!
P.P.S. Share this article with someone you think might enjoy these recommendations and let’s explore the vast universe of genres together.
