Episode 59: Geek Herring Reviews Feminists: What Were They Thinking?

Feminists: What Were They Thinking Is a documentary about second wave feminism. It features stories from women involved in the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s and it definitely evokes emotion about the trials and tribulations women went through (AND ARE STILL GOING THROUGH) around our world.

Feminists: What Were They Thinking is available on Netflix worldwide. A photographic project called Emergence by Cynthia McAdam brought together these incredible women and feminists and this documentary sees many of them looking back at their photos and sharing their stories.

We highly recommend that you check it out!!

Why?

Because it’s full of inspiration from women who were part of the grassroots movement. Women like Lily Tomlin, Z Budapest, Jane Fonda (BABE), Phyllis Chesler, Judy Chicago, and other incredible feminists. They talked about their experiences during the 60s & 70s and how second wave feminism was the first time women truly took responsibility for themselves.

In this review episode, hosts Monika and Amanda talk about what emotions this documentary stirred up in them. Do feminists look different? What do you think?

And did you know that Jane Fonda only learned in the last decade that “no” is a complete sentence? If Queen Fonda only learned this, and she’s in her 80s, we still have a lot of work to do.

What does feminism mean to us? It’s easy for us both to be feminists and we are ready to fight for our right to own our space, some a bit more rebellious than others 😉

We think, essentially, that second wave feminism was so important. Why do new wave feminists want to distance themselves from the early grassroots movements? We don’t know!

Feminists from all walks of life need to work together to achieve true gender parity. We need older feminists, black feminists, LGBTQ+ feminists, white feminists, feminists of colour, geek feminists, political feminists — this list could GO ON – to fight the good fight.

There are still hard things about being a woman in 2019. Just like there were hard things about being a woman in 1969. And hard things with first wave feminism back in the 20s. This is why we still need feminism.

We believe there’s something higher we can be. Do you?

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Geek Girl Stereotypes: Identify, Self-Reflection, and Toxic Femininity
• Geek Interview: Feminism and Gender with Dr. Sol Haring
• Geek Girl Reviews: The Mask You Live In Exploring Toxic Masculinity

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to iTunes and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!

Geek out with Geek Herring Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
Amanda & Monika