This time last year, Washington Area Women’s Foundation was promoting “Be That Woman,” an animated video that illustrated the work we do. That short video showed why it’s important to invest in women and demonstrated the power of images and sound. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye out for other videos that show the impact that women and girls have on our society. In no particular order, here’s a look at some of my favorites from 2010:
“In Your Face With Mark Lewis and Friends” was created by the Name It Change It campaign, a project created to fight sexism in the media against women political candidates. “In Your Face…” takes a tongue-in-cheek look at how the media treats women who are running for office. Many of the ridiculous sounding statements in this video clip were actually said or written by journalists. This video contains some adult language.
Lorraine Fells spoke at The Women’s Foundation’s 2010 Leadership Luncheon. While it may seem self-serving to put one of our own videos in this list, I’m doing it without reservation because Lorraine’s bravery and dedication to her community never cease to amaze me. She boldly got on stage in front of 1,100 people and frankly talked about overcoming addiction, losing her daughters, and how Goodwill of Greater Washington helped her turn her life around.
“Who’s Your Feminist Pop Culture Icon?” SPARK Summit asked that question and got answers that were both conventional and surprising. That might be the only question in which answers can include “Wonder Woman,” “Lady Gaga,” and “Christie Love.”
“The Girl Effect: The Clock is Ticking” is a follow-up to 2008’s “The Girl Effect” video. “The Clock is Ticking” is an urgent push to help lift girls out of poverty. This video focuses on helping 12-year-old girls internationally; but what struck me was the fact that, except for early marriage, all of the barriers faced by girls in other countries are faced by girls in the D.C. metro region, too.
Honorable video mentions also go to: “The Power of Madonna” episode of Glee and Willow Smith’s “I Whip My Hair.”
Are there any videos that moved you this year? And I’d love to know — who’s your feminist pop culture icon??
