Happy International Women’s Day! Being as we are two women who run this blog, we are very unsurprisingly huge advocates of female representation and celebration. Too often we find ourselves writing posts about the lack of women in many fields of the media. Recently we talked about the lack of female creators and actors at the Oscars, along with a generally dismal lack of diversity of any type.
Though we are resistant to the idea of reserving the recognition and acknowledgment deserving by women to just one day, we are not opposed to using the opportunity to spam the world with our celebration of women in the arena of storytelling that we love so much.
So, to mark the occasion, we have for you today a recommendation list of some of our favourite books, movies and music created by women. These works are incredible productions by incredible women who all too often do not get the fanfare they deserve. Very often female authors and directors are told that their works are not relatable enough for the wider audience, as if products by male creators are more universal simply because they are the normative gender. And tell me, since when have movies about dinosaurs and aliens been more relatable than women’s lives? For too long women have been regarded as the ‘other’ gender, the alternative to men and as such, not deserving of attention.
This resistance to watching, reading and hearing stories by women means that there is a lack of knowledge regarding their experiences. This has two major effects: 1) Many women begin to feel they are alone in their plights and struggles and 2) The experiences of women are placed in an inferior position through the lack of representation. Though it may not always be relatable to you, it is relatable to the world you live in and that should be enough for you to at least want to learn more about it.
So if you find it difficult to find good works by female creators and female artists (which it really is not, there are plenty of us around the world!) here is a list to help get you started with some of our favourites! And if you still can’t find anything to your liking, check out our recommendations for books by female writers from last year!
Movies
- Bend It Like Beckham directed by Gurinder Chadha, 2003
- Selma directed by Ava DuVernay, 2014
- Persepolis directed by Marjane Satrapi who also wrote the autobiographical graphic novel of the same name, 2007
- The Matrix directed and written by Lilly and Lana Wachowski, 1999
- Clueless directed by Amy Heckerling, 1995
- Wonder Woman directed by Patty Jenkins, 2017
TV Shows
- Sex Education written by Laurie Nunn
- Sense8 written and directed by Lana Wachowski
- Fleabag created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
- Westworld created by Lisa Joy
- Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries created by Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel created by Amy Sherman-Pallidino
Books
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
- Nasty Women by 401 Ink
Music
- Florence and the Machine – Lungs (2009) and Ceremonials (2011)
- JoJo – Mad Love (2016)
- Emily King – The Switch (2015) and Scenery (2019)
- Kaleida – Think (2015)
- Lizzo – Cuz I Love You (2019)
- Sigrid – Sucker Punch (2018)
- Doja Cat – Amala (2018)
~S~
Featured Image by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash
