The Makers Women Who Make America Documentary Analysis

The Makers: Women Who Make America is a three-part documentary about the history of the women’s liberation movement. It originally aired on PBS but can now be found on youtube. It is the story of different women and women’s movements that have impacted how a woman can now choose to live her life. No longer are we stuck barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, but women can work outside of the home in whatever career she chooses. This documentary looks at the foundation that has been laid thus far and all the strife women went through to get where we are today. After watching the three parts it would seem we are in a post-feminist society. There is still work to be done, however, and there are young activists shouldering the next movements. People

Coming from a home where the mother held a job yet was still expected to cook, clean, and look after the kids, one can see where the frustration comes from. There are women who slip through the cracks because they struggle to juggle all of their new found responsibilities. The women’s rights movements dropped the ball on how to transition from stay at home moms to working moms with stay at home expectations. This is one area that major improvement is needed and quickly. If women do not receive the help and support they need, they might start thinking they only have one choice and all the progress made will start to regress. Hilary Clinton was a great example of a working mother. Because she worked in politics she was often harshly judged for what she said and for the work she did. People wanted a first lady who kept quiet and supported her husband, the president, in the background. If these are the stereotypes being applied to the president’s wife, what hope do women have of breaking free from what is considered the societal norm? Where was the women’s rights movement to back up the first lady when it would have made a huge impact of young girls and women in our country or even world? This would have been a prime opportunity to spread awareness about how women, even the first lady, are