(May Contain Spoilers)
What a SERIES! A feminist masterpiece documenting the true events of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) movement during the 70’s and the battle between second-wave feminists and Phylis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett). I loved the series and was a real eye opener to these events. I had heard of The Feminine Mystique book and the magazine MS, but I didn’t know the powerful women behind them! I loved that the series had a strong female presence both in front and behind the camera and was educational to young women watching.
It’s 1971 and the ERA are in full force, whilst Schlafly is just getting wind of the movement and is opposed as there are a minority of women who she feels aren’t being represented in their debates, which are housewives who choose the stay-at-home life. Also within this series there is a debate on gay rights for women also and I didn’t quite realise how pushed aside they were and I understand they wanted to get womens right across and be taken seriously, but why couldn’t they have pushed harder for the lesbian and gay rights as well, which they did end up doing.
The series goes through the decade showing the yearly struggle that women have and the fight they put up to get their voices heard and into congress. Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba) who was the first black woman to get voted into congress for New York City. Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne) was the woman behind MS magazine and was one of the most known faces behind the movement and was a strong advocate of abortion rights, to give women the choice which was also passed in congress.
Throughout the series there are rallies and protests that are combined with real 70's footage, which gives the series authenticity and realism. The casting is fabulous and the actors actually look like the women! I thought the acting was superb and the storytelling was captivating. The story was obviously great as it was based on truth, but the plot was twisted for dramatic effect. Each episode focused on a specific woman and despite this helping gain more insight into these women, it neglected to then focus on all the women’s stories and therefore felt excluded in some cases. Despite the beginning making me feel uncomfortable the ending was great, at the women’s rally they were all holding hands and singing and that raw solidarity and gave me goosebumps!
Stream the series on BBC iPlayer and HULU.
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