Oddball Films and curator Kat Shuchter bring you (Un) Feminist Flashback - Sexist Absurdities from Yesteryear, a program of 16mm short films from the 1940s-1980s exemplifying the patronizing, sexist and misogynistic tones and themes designed to keep women in their place and make their progress seem quaint and precious. By scoffing and laughing at these offensively antiquated and cringe-worthy newsreels, educational films, commercials and other ephemera, we can see what progress we've made in the fight for equality, but also the steps that still need to be taken. Learn how to make-up your face and shut-up when men are talking in Why Not Be Beautiful? (1969). In the workplace, Brad's got an issue with all the emotions, obligations and problems with his female employees in The Trouble with Women (1959). Ask yourself the all important question for a young woman, Do I Want to be a Secretary? (1954). Cindy's friends have all gone off to exciting careers as secretaries and teachers, will she find her own way with Beauty for a Career (1962)? One man is so pleased with his simple country life, especially since his wife Elsa (1982) does all the work, in this hilarious Finnish satire. Watch out boys, the ladies bowling champ Tillie Taylor is tearing up the lanes, now would be a good time to fat-shame another woman trying to knock down a few pins in Splits, Spares and Strikes (1941). Isn't that cute, now Manhattan Beach has a group of Lady Lifeguards (1941), who knew girls could do that? An angry little cartoon man, Mitt Mittel, needs a lesson when he can't seem to understand why I've Got a Woman Boss! (1977). Plus, see historical women through the ages not talk about their menstrual pains in the opening segment of Cramps! (1983) and tons of Vintage Sexist Commercials!
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Do I Want to Be a Secretary? (Color, 1954)
Betty’s been showing some talent on the typewriter of late, so with the encouragement of her teacher and guidance counselor, and armed with the results ofher Vocational Interest Inventory, she decides to look into possible careers. Her neighbor’s a secretary in an office, so why not stop by and check that out? It looks like a fit!
Splits, Spares and Strikes (B+W, 1941)
Watch out boys, the ladies are taking over the bowling alley, so what better to do than patronize their efforts with offensive voiceover? Isn't it quaint that Tillie Taylor is the ladies' world champion of bowling, but wouldn't we rather talk about her outfit and that fat woman over there the narrator so sweetly refers to as "Tiny"?
Part of the Variety View series, this antiquated and offensive "comedy" short aims to keep women in their place by joking about their rotundness and their men's displeasure. The narrator follows several women who are overweight and offers various advice and instructions on how to thin down for your ungrateful husband! Written and directed by Arthur Cohen of the "Brooklyn Goes To..." series and narrated by Phil Foster from Laverne and Shirley.
Kat Shuchter is a graduate of UC Berkeley in Film Studies. She is a filmmaker, artist and esoteric film hoarder. She has helped program shows at the PFA, The Nuart and Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theater and was crowned “Found Footage Queen” of Los Angeles, 2009. She has programmed over 150 shows at Oddball on everything from puberty primers to experimental animation.
About Oddball Films
Oddball films is a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Silicon Valley, Kurt Cobain: The Montage of Heck, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.
Our screenings are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.