Mrs. America Settles The Aged Question Of Why It Is Absolutely Normal That Women Fight Each Other, But, Throws New Questions To Today’s Women.

Ever since mankind was born, men were at each other’s throats; invaded territories; indulged in wars that ripped the world into fragments; divided humans based on superficial hierarchies like race, sex, caste, etc.,; did not even spare splitting families over property disputes and others, yet, we never dare to label them as “men being men’s best enemies.” But, one woman talks against a woman, the society goes great lengths to ascertain that women hate each other. As Gloria Steinem says in the recent Disney + Hotstar miniseries, Mrs. America, “They have found the perfect smokescreen to hide their chauvinism-women.”

It is true that women need to fight together to uproot patriarchy. But the unfair obligation to always be nice to each other, is yet another unreasonable expectation shoved down our throats. Mrs. America settles this once and for all, of how normal it is for women to dissent. After all, feminism has never been ONE supreme way of achieving equality. There are inroads that cut through various intersections, always leaving women scratching heads of prioritizing one over the other.

Mrs. America is the story of the battle of second-wave feminists to ratify the Equal rights Amendment in 38 states of the USA following approval from the Congress. What seems almost accomplished gets stalled by the movement led by conservative woman, Phylis Schlafly. The show explores the women’s rights movement that was at the political uprising in the 1970s. Moving past the debate of Housewives vs. Working women, the show undoubtedly sheds light at the crises feminists had to deal with in themselves, even though they were fighting for the same cause. The crisis which was always overlooked as in-fighting and catfights prove to be a necessary record of understanding how feminism works and how it had evolved as an inclusive platform.

It is not always pleasant agreements:

Gloria Steinem wants to stop women from being butchered on kitchen tables for abortion; Shirley Chisholm fights for equal representation of African American women; Ginny wants gay rights to be included in their agenda and so are many other women pushing for different motives, but, all together fighting for ERA. Now, in the 21st-century backdrop, it doesn’t even look as a matter of differing opinion. All thanks to the feminists for making it way more inclusive and intersectional. Today if you are a feminist, it is a given, that you vocally support LGBTQ and all other minorities. But, that was not the case back then, when your affiliation towards one group would mean you are against the rest. These women, though they all agree on all the demands conflicting with popular opinion, had to sound careful so as not to hurt the majority sentiment that translates as political support, which ultimately decides the fate of the ERA.

The episode, where Shirley Chisholm runs for president, portrays this conflict brilliantly. Shirley co-founded the ERA movement, but her allies were critical of supporting her run because they know the chances of a black woman winning a white man are slime. They could not risk locking horns with a potential president with whom the fate of ERA lies. With tears, they cheer for Shirley, when she delivers her roaring speech of being the first person to have the audacity to shake the system up. It was like being stuck between the rock and hard place, they could neither risk losing a potential winner nor the woman who could go with them all the way down the line. However, they manage to lobby the VP candidacy for Shirley.

There are plenty of other examples as well. Gay rights and abortion rights were time and again pushed to back burner by the male legislators. Bella, the head, keeps assuring it would be included later as the time was not ripe then. But they fight on and add it giving neutral terms like sexual preferences and reproductive rights. But, the moment the women decide to play hardball, Bella gets fired by the president himself. Following which all her employees resign in solidarity.

The feminists’ democratic approach extends to the opposite camp too. They know the conservatives are sneaking into the National convention, but, decide not to stop them and have different opinions on the floor, reasoning, “What is the point of having a group of people in the room agreeing over everything?” Isn’t that the same problem we have when a group of men decides on women’s issues?

It would be a travesty to not praise the top-notch performance of Cate Blanchett as Phylis. I watched a few videos of real Phylis and must say that the actor is a pro for donning her perfectly. Phylis is the poster woman of a conservative catholic glorifying women’s role at home but never actually been crippled to one herself. She is intelligent and ambitious, who knows to get anything done. She desists being a pushover in legal debates and goes on to study constitutional law. ERA has never been her interest, but, realizes that was her route to the defense or foreign policy cabinet, which was denied to her by her male counterparts. Her final shots where she tears up and sits to peel the apples after being deceived by Reagan, make one wonder whether to feel bad for her or rejoice that she deserved that.

The epilogue with actual footages honestly moved me to tears. This freaking story really happened and the women worked their asses off. Why did not we pick up the thread from there and go on? Somewhere along the line, we have lost the momentum. But, Why? In India, the 33% reservation is a dangling carrot similar to the ERA, but when do we fight like the 70s American women?

Link to this featured in  womens web https://www.womensweb.in/2020/07/mrs-america-where-india-lose-feminist-movement-jul20wk3mad/