Erin's Past Films II

Here's another film from Erin!

Called The Milliner, this film was created for the 2009 Attack of the 50 Foot Reels at the Egyptian Theater, Los Angeles, CA.

Erin focuses on the process of hatmaking here, an art some consider out of style. But her use of experimental techniques brings a real physicality to the subject.

Helen's Thoughts on Daughter's Education

Taken from the 2007 edition of Fascinating Womanhood.

Should Daughters be Trained for Careers?
You may think your daughters should prepare to make a living in the event of widowhood, divorce or other compelling emergencies. Consider the seriousness of this step from the following viewpoints:

1. Makes her independent and less likely to attract a man.
2. Encourages her to continue working after marriage.
3. Wastes her time on training that changes from year to year.
4. Provides an easy escape from marriage.
5. Deprives her of a liberal education that will prepare her to develop creativeness, intelligence, sound reasoning, and wisdom.

Valerie Hudson Profile

Dr. Valerie Hudson is professor of Political Science at BYU and director of the WomanSTATS project.

Hudson's research into international family law and the global status of women confirms that the health and wellness of women in a nation-state will predict the stability of the economy and state security.

How does this connect to Fascinating Womanhood?  One of the arguments about Helen's ideas is whether or not she promotes gender equality. With Helen's call for a return to previous standards of femininity and sexual division of labor, is she helping women regain the respect and protection they lost via the Second Wave of Feminism? Or is she asking women to give up legal, social, and ethical gains they've made because of Second Wave Feminism?

And how does that affect our society?

You can read this article in Foreign Policy about Dr. Hudson's new monograph, Sex and World Peace.

Funding

As you know, independent documentaries and feature films scramble for funding on a constant basis. Handkerchief Films as a production company is no different. Much of the travel, equipment, and other fees have been paid from Erin's work as a commercial editor. Other positions are unpaid, and generally we're doing what we can to move the project efficiently along.

We continue to work on grant applications. One of our successful grants is fiscal sponsorship from the Utah Film Center, which extends us non-profit status. This means anyone donating to our project via UFC can earn a tax break for 2012. Please contact us if you're interested in donating in this way.

We also have two more days on Kickstarter. We've already reached our goal, but the website is an easy way for people to donate to the project. You can donate at a level ($22) that will reserve a DVD copy of the final film to be sent out next spring.

Once our Kickstarter campaign has finished, we will make pre-ordering of the DVD available on Amazon. Look for that by the end of the week.

Many thanks for all those who continue to support the project.

Erin's Past Films

Erin has been making documentaries ever since we met in 1996. She specializes in portraits and for today's post I want to show off one of her earliest pieces, called A Merry Widow.

The beauty about Erin's work is that she approaches her subjects with generosity. And when she focuses her work on women, she's able to hear the stories that are often overlooked in our mainstream culture. This means that in the interview process, the women she interviews trust her, open up, are unafraid to laugh at themselves but also unafraid to make claims about who they are and what they want to be.

As we finish up interviews for Fascinating Womanhood Documentary and head into the editing process, we still don't know what the final film will look like. It has been a journey, an exploration, and we appreciate all the support we've had so far.

We'll link to other films from Erin as we go along. Think of them as tapas; small and flavorful, satisfying.

Helen's Thoughts on Feminism

Taken from Helen's website http://fascinatingwomanhood.net/.

"What is the Fascinating Womanhood Way, and how does it differ from the Feminist Way? Here is a quick review of the basic differences: Feminism centers round claiming rights, whereas FW centers around filling responsibilities, especially those in the home. The feminists want to assure equality of the sexes, whereas FW women want to preserve the differences between the sexes. Feminism teaches women to focus on their needs. FW teaches women to focus on their husband's needs and their family's needs. Feminism promises women a life of freedom and equality. FW promises women a life of love and happiness. Feminism is a self-centered philosophy, whereas FW is an unselfish, giving philosophy. Feminism ignores basic religious principles, such as those taught in the Bible. FW is based on religious principles, supported by the Bible.

It is easy to see why some women become involved with the views of feminism. The words rights, freedom and equality sound so fair and square. They are especially attracted to feminism if these ideas are planted in their minds by their mothers, who hate housework, hate men and urge their daughters to liberate themselves from the chores of the household by seeking careers outside the home. Once out in the world of men they are urged to claim their rights in all areas - equal pay, equal opportunity, equal benefits etc. Naturally, young women exposed to this background are easy targets for feminism. They relate to their ideas and the influences of other young people. If there is no light to guide them in a better direction, they listen to the loud voices of the feminists and think it must be the only way to go."

desire to understand

Hi this is Erin. One of the reasons I read Fascinating Womanhood was for its advice about understanding men. Relationships are difficult! As we have been making this documentary I have been keen to understand what are the real differences between men and women and what makes a relationship work well? I think there's a spectrum - on one end men and women are the same, and on the other end of the spectrum they are very different.  Here's what Fascinating Womanhood says:


Six Characteristics of Men:
1. His need to be accepted at face value.
2. His need for admiration.
3. His sensitive masculine pride.
4. His need for sympathetic understanding. 
5. His need to be No. 1.
6. His need to serve as the guide, protector and provider to feel needed in this role, and to excel women in doing so.


My personal belief is men and women have many similar needs.  I believe people need to be valued and respected. If a woman is giving this kind of attention to her man, then she is most likely to receive it in return.