I owe everything to George Bailey… Help him, dear Father. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) dir. Frank Capra
Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman-Hughes, 1972 and 2014
Ask me who these women were.
Hughes’ father was beaten nearly to death by the KKK when she was a kid, and what does she do?
Become an activist to try and stop that from happening to other people. She raised money to bail civil rights protesters out of jail.
She helped women get out of abusive situations by providing shelter for them until they got on their feet.
She founded an agency that helped women get to work without having to leave their children alone, because childcare in the 1970s? Not really a thing.
In fact, a famous feminist line in the 70s was “every housewife is one man away from welfare.”
Then she teamed up with Steinman to found the Women’s Action Alliance, which created the first battered women’s shelters in history.
They attacked women’s rights issues through boots on the ground activism, problem solving, and communication.
They stomped over barriers of race and class to meet women where they were: mostly mothers who wanted better for themselves and their children.
These are women are who I always wanted to be.
Let’s not forget that these ladies are STILL out there grinding on the front lines for feminism.
Robert Redford in ‘The Candidate’ (1972)
Stand Back (Civil War version).
Gilda (1946) dir. Charles Vidor
Steel Magnolias (1989) dir. Herbert Ross
Once you’ve had the best, who needs the rest?
The walls are banked with sprays of flowers in my two shades of Blush and Bashful, pink carpet specially laid out for my service, and pink silk bunting draped over anything that would stand still. That sanctuary looks like it’s been hosed down with Pepto-Bismol. Steel Magnolias (1989) dir. Herbert Ross
“Gilda, are you decent?”
Gilda (1946) dir. Charles Vidor
Los Angeles mid-century hotels at night.
The Apartment (1960) dir. Billy Wilder
Baby, I’m gonna treat you so nice, you’re never gonna wanna let me go. Pretty Woman (1990) dir. Garry Marshall
Sally Field photographed by Harry Langdon | 1970s
You have a wonderful sense of humor. I wish I had a sense of humor, but I can never think of the right thing to say until everybody’s gone home.
My Man Godfrey (1936) dir. Gregory La Cava