''She's Beautiful When She's Angry'' is a 2014 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about some of the women involved in the

second wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. W ...

movement in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It was directed by Mary Dore and co-produced by Nancy Kennedy. It was the first documentary film to cover

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

's second wave.

Overview

''She's Beautiful When She's Angry'' documents the

Women's Liberation Movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

in the United States. It showcases the activist's key concerns during the years 1966–1971 including employment discrimination, affordable childcare,

reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, healthcare, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual wellbeing during all stages of their life. The term can also be further de ...

, and sexuality, which collectively became known as "women's issues". It also delves into the divisive sides of the movement, such as

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy ...

, race, and class. The documentary runs for 92 minutes and features a mixture of archival footage, press clippings, present day interview narration, and readings of contemporary works. It begins by outlining the social climate of the 1960s and describes some of the first events of the women's liberation, including the publication of Betty Friedan's landmark text ''

The Feminine Mystique ''The Feminine Mystique'' is a book by Betty Friedan, widely credited with sparking second-wave feminism in the United States. First published by W. W. Norton on February 19, 1963, ''The Feminine Mystique'' became a bestseller, initially selling ...

'' and the founding of the National Organization for Women (NOW). It describes how the women's movement linked to other movements in the United States such as the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

, the antiwar movement, and the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the Western world who campaigned for a broad range of social issues such as civil and political rights, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, ...

. Also featured in the documentary are the authors of the landmark feminist book '' Our Bodies, Ourselves'' and ex-members of the underground abortion organization the

Jane Collective The Jane Collective or Jane, officially known as the Abortion Counseling Service of Women's Liberation, was an underground service in Chicago, Illinois affiliated with the Chicago Women's Liberation Union that operated from 1969 to 1973, a time ...

. The documentary ends with coverage of the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality and the lasting accomplishments of the movement. It features the following activists, shown here in alphabetical order: * Chude Pamela Allen *

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

* Judith Arcana * Fran Beal *

Heather Booth Heather Booth (born December 15, 1945) is an American civil rights activist, feminist, and political strategist who has been involved in activism for progressive causes. During her student years, she was active in both the civil rights movement ...

Rita Mae Brown Rita Mae Brown (born November 28, 1944) is an American feminist writer, best known for her coming-of-age autobiographical novel, ''Rubyfruit Jungle''. Brown was active in a number of civil rights campaigns and criticized the marginalization of les ...

* Susan Brownmiller *

Linda Burnham Linda Burnham (born 1948) is an American journalist, activist, and leader in women's rights movements, particularly with organizations and projects serving and advocating for women of color. Early life and family Burnham was born in 1948, to par ...

* Jacqueline Ceballos *

Mary Jean Collins Mary Jean Collins (born December 8, 1939) is an American feminist. She was president of the Chicago chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), a member of the national board and director of the campaign to have the Equal Rights Amen ...

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (born September 10, 1938) is an American historian, writer, and activist, known for her 2014 book '' An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States''. Early life and education Born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1938 to ...

Susan Griffin Susan Griffin (born January 26, 1943) is a radical feminist philosopher, essayist and playwright particularly known for her innovative, hybrid-form ecofeminist works. Life Griffin was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1943 and has resided in ...

* Muriel Fox *

Jo Freeman Jo Freeman aka Joreen (born August 26, 1945), is an American feminist, political scientist, writer and attorney. As a student at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s, she became active in organizations working for civil liberties a ...

Carol Giardina Carol may refer to: People with the name *Carol (given name) *Henri Carol (1910–1984), French composer and organist *Martine Carol (1920–1967), French film actress *Sue Carol (1906–1982), American actress and talent agent, wife of actor Ala ...

* Karla Jay *

Kate Millett Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors ...

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, representing the District of Columbia since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Ear ...

* Denise Oliver-Vélez *

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins bec ...

* Ruth Rosen * Vivian Rothstein * Marlene Sanders * Alix Kates Shulman * Ellen Shumsky * Marilyn Webb * Virginia Whitehill *

Ellen Willis Ellen Jane Willis (December 14, 1941 – November 9, 2006) was an American left-wing political essayist, journalist, activist, feminist, and pop music critic. A 2014 collection of her essays, ''The Essential Ellen Willis,'' received the Nati ...

Nona Willis-Aronowitz Nona Willis Aronowitz (born 1984) is a New York-based writer and editor, whose work focuses on "women, sex, politics, and the economy". As of December 2022, she was writing an advice column on sex and love for '' Teen Vogue'', serving as an edit ...

* Alice Wolfson * Women of the Our Bodies, Ourselves Collective

Production

''She's Beautiful When She's Angry'' was directed and produced by first-time documentarian Mary Dore, who was herself active in the

during the mid 70s. It was co-produced by Nancy Kennedy. The filmmakers said they made the documentary to inspire people to continue to advocate for

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

. The rights to the film were bought by

Music Box Films Music Box Films is a distributor of foreign and independent film in theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray, and video-on-demand markets in the United States. Based in Chicago, Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corpo ...

in 2016 who released it on DVD and iTunes. In 2018, the film was available on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

Reception

The documentary debuted in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on December 5, 2014 and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

on December 12, 2014. It continued to screen across the United States and other countries including Canada, Australia, Turkey, South Korea, Ireland, and Spain. As of May 2021, the film has a score of 80 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

based on 12 critic reviews.

Critical reception

Jordan Hoffman of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' gave the film three out of five stars calling it a "well-deserved appreciation of these women", but criticized the film's sometimes disjointed approach. Alan Scherstuhl of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' described the documentary as the best filmed account of how the women's movement "changed the workplace, our sexual politics, our language." Ann Hornaday of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' gave the documentary two and a half out of four stars, citing "awkward reenactments and other stylistic clunkers" but concluded that "it serves as a moving reminder of how crucial citizen action is in fomenting social change."

References

External links

* * {{radical feminism 2014 films Documentary films about feminism Liberal feminism Second-wave feminism 2010s English-language films