I Was a Teenage Feminist

After realizing she no longer identifies with the ardent feminism of her youth, filmmaker Therese Shechter sets out with a video camera and an irreverent sense of humor (although, frankly, the narration sometimes comes off as irritatingly self-indulgent) to interview a wide variety of people in her quest to discover what happened to the feminist ideals of the 1970s. Wondering why today's young, progressive women don't seem to identify with feminism, and whether the “F-word” can be reshaped for a new generation, Shechter asks her subjects—feminist activists, educators, authors, media specialists, an opera student, frat boys, and people on the street—to define feminism and describe what it means to them. Many of the answers seem like mere sound bites, but Shechter also interweaves extended interviews with a few subjects throughout the film. As might be expected with such a hot-button topic, the responses to Shechter's questions vary considerably, providing an interesting snapshot of the political and cultural divide in the United States today. I Was a Teenage Feminist also features archival photographs, excerpts from a 1950s instructional film about male and female role models, contemporary footage of a college symposium on feminism, a clever animated sequence outlining the history of the women's movement, and home movies of Shechter and her family. A fun and engaging discussion about the seemingly lost ideals of feminism—as well as how they have been appropriated or denigrated over the past few decades—this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)