For women’s history month, there are ways you can celebrate, which can be big or small. Supporting women-owned businesses, reading books by female authors, supporting women’s organizations, and watching women-directed films. Women directors often don’t get appreciated as much as male directors do when it comes to being in the spotlight or the movie or show not getting enough recognition. This leads to male directors having more viewership and higher ratings. There are films that are highly rated and definitely worth watching for this month and any other month.
Starting off with the film called “Little Women” directed by Greta Gerwig it is about a group of girls who go through womanhood together and its ups and downs in life. The movie is set in the 19th century where the girls learn the importance of sisterhood as they grow up. This has been out for some time and many people have seemed to like the way it was filmed and the emotions that are displayed in the film.
“Love and Basketball,” directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, is a coming-of-age film that follows two childhood friends who eventually fall in love as they get older. While pursuing their dreams of becoming professional basketball players, the film shows gender inequality and how they are able to balance love and career.
“Little Miss Sunshine” follows a family who takes a road trip across the country to get their daughter to a beauty pageant. The daughter dreams of winning the beauty pageant, which is why her family helps her achieve that goal with them going through hardships and challenges. This movie is co-directed by Valerie Faris.
“Wonder Woman” is one of my favorite superheroes growing up, and I loved the live action movie that was made. This is directed by Patty Jenkins. The film shows how an Amazonian woman leaves her home from an island to fight in the war. She then believes that she can end the war which leads to her discovering her powers and who she was truly meant to be and do in life.
For the next film I suggest watching is a film called “Don’t Worry Darling” which is about a 1950s midwife who discovers an evil secret that is behind her life while she is in a utopia town. She takes back her control of the situation and is able to figure out her feminism and her reality. This is directed by Olivia Wilde.
“Jennifer’s Body” is a pretty good film that starts with two best friends in high school, one is a nerd, and the other is not, more like popular I would say. The girls have been friends for some time and one night they go out and things suddenly change both of their lives. This is a good movie to watch with friends or even by yourself especially if you haven’t seen it and it is also better to watch in the fall around Halloween season. This 2009 movie is directed by Karyn Kusama.
“Lady Bird” is another great film to get into that shows the audience the life of a teenage girl and the emotions and triumphs she goes through as a teenager. This is another great Greta Gerwig movie.
For the final movie I recommend the movie called “Barbie” also by Gerwig, that came out in 2023 and I was the little girl growing up loving Barbie’s and always wanting to get more and more dolls from the store. Barbie is about a stereotypical Barbie where she is surprised that she is objectified in the real world compared to Ken where he isn’t. This sends her into a sudden identity crisis where she wants to be more than what the world thinks of her and the other Barbie’s in her world as well. This movie shows feminism and patriarchy using the contrast of the real world vs Barbie land and to basically critique and analyze gender roles.
With all of this being said I hope some of you reading this article take a look at these films in support of women’s history month!