Screenplay Reading Shines Light on Choice

Jodi Leib is passionate about choice and passionate about creative expression. She's managed to combine the two in several ways -- artwork, a tv program, writing and a film.

She even described her intertwined interests in an essay on arts and choice.

Jodi is particularly determined to made a dramatic film with a pro-choice perspective. Pro-choice dramatic films are pretty hard to come by, especially of late. Jodi wants to rectify that with Monday's Child.

Wanting a film and getting it done are miles apart. Jodi's also taking the next steps to getting a film made -- lessons and reminders for all of us in the creative arts about the step-by-step process to moving projects forward. Jodi's researched the subject, created characters, developed a story and written the screenplay -- Monday's Child. She's created a website for the project and opened up to Indy film promotion. She's created marketing materials and designed an enticing illustration (including the one pictured here).

Now, she's going public with a dramatic reading of the screenplay with an ensemble of top-tier actors in New York City, scheduled for February 2, 2009.

"What if the Supreme Court turned back the clock on Women's Rights?" asks the blurb for Monday's Child.

Monday's Child, explains Jodi, is "a social drama that explores the abortion debate from the legal, medical, personal and spiritual perspectives. Set in Washington, D.C., the story centers on Dr. Monroe’s reproductive health center and a community affected by legislation that would overturn Roe v. Wade. As the country grows more divisive on the issues at stake in this pro-life/pro-choice war, only the Supreme Court can decide the fate of women’s lives and America’s right to choose."

The story involves several women facing difficult pregnancies and how their relationships impact the choices they make about life, love and family amidst the reproductive health debate in American politics, according to Jodi.

She had big goals. Jodi writes: "Essentially, "Monday’s Child" is a humanitarian film that seeks to heal the pro-choice/pro-life conflict, balance the reproductive health cause and unite audiences in America and throughout the world."

Jodi knows that every big project has to start somewhere. Doing the reading of a dramatic screenplay or play is an exciting and fascinating way to open up the topic to audiences and potential backers. A reading opens up the imagination and that leads people to consider their own activism, engagement and political perspectives. (Try it yourself!)

Posted by Cindy Cooper

pictured above: announcement for Monday's Child

Roe Day: A Scrapbook Speaks

Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued the case of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. Supreme Court, culled some materials from her scrapbook and has posted them on a new website, www.choicematters.us.

The decision in Roe v. Wade was released by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973, an opinion written by Justice Harry Blackmun. Among the historical artifacts Weddington has posted is the telegram she received from the high court to tell her of her victory in the matter. She's also posted the front page of The New York Times, where the case is touted, but only below the headline announcing the death of Lyndon Johnson, then a former president. And a state-of-the-archival photo of the nine justices is also in her online scrapbook, as well as pictures of Weddington at the time and through the years.

Weddington, who landed at the Supreme Court after she and another young lawyer, Linda Coffee, mounted a challenge to the Texas laws that made abortion criminal and difficult to obtain except in the most exceptional of cases, also has links to additional resources. One is to a legal site known as Oyez, where an audio recording of that actual arguments before the court (unusually, there were two oral arguments-- one in December 1971 and another in October 1972) can be accessed for listening.

The legacy of Roe, of course, did not end on January 22 or in 1973. Weddington notes on the site: "Our dream of making reproductive decisions truly personal came true that day.
However, our triumph was cut short by those who want to turn back the clock and penalize women by making personal decisions into government decisions once again. We’ve had to fight attacks and skirmishes ever since."

Posted by Cindy Cooper

above: picture from Sarah Weddington's website, http://www.choicematters.us

Ideas! Ideas! Ideas! Roe v Wade at 36

January 22 marks the 36th Anniversary of the decision in Roe v. Wade. -- a great opportunity for creative projects. To help you plan, below is a sampling of ideas from the last year or so on Up the Creativity blog.

Our views and visions need constant nurturing. If there is one thing we've learned from the roller coaster years since Roe, it's that.

Spirits are rightfully high about the prospects for a banner choice year. But plenty of states will be battling anti-choice legislation and the marchers will be in Washington and the inflammatory rhetoric will be slung. We know from the past that in times like this, the opposition keeps pushing, reorganizing, trying to destabilize our successes. It's vital to keep our voices loud. Creative activities reach out to untapped audiences and generations to expand our range.

Try something new in 2009!

Films (Not the usual!)

~The Other Side of the Fence- a filmmaker tracks down a former protester
~Beyond the Politics of Life and Choice - high-quality pro & con with a story interwoven
~Mark Day Riffs on the Morning-After Pill- a YouTube hits a funny bone
~The Coat Hanger Project - do young women know?
~Words of Choice on Film - also with a great downloadable guide by Suzanne Grossman to creativity exercises and discussion ideas.

Books

~This Common Secret by Dr. Susan Wicklund - a doctor describes her journey
~What if your mother by Judith Arcana - poetry and stories with insights
~Dear Sisters by Rosalyn Baxandall and Linda Gordon- a compendium of writings, cartoons, lyrics of the '70s
~Abortion and Life by Jennifer Baumgardner - probing and highly topical

First-Person Stories

~Feminist Women's Health Center -hundreds of stories
~Physicians-doctors' stories and clips from PRCH
~My Voice by Chicago Abortion Fund

Exercises 'n Tips

~Repro Freedom in 10 words
~Daring to write Judith Arcana tells how
~Why to get creative on choice and why the arts matter

Visual Arts

~A Pro-Choice South Dakotan's Glass Beads
~Canadians' Photos of Women & Abortion
~Lisa Link's Amazing Political Collages
~Speculums Become Art in Atlanta
~Using Placards for Design in Chicago
~Find Women Visual Artists in Registry

Resources

~Bettye Lane's amazing photo collection
~History of contraception and women's liberation available at online sites
~Women in the Arts- people, info, opportunities at the Fund for Women Artists
~Roe anniversary ideas & activities in 2008

And

Remember 1100Torches. This organization that asks a simple thing: do an activist deed in the name of Jana Mackey, a pro-choice advocate in Kansas who was tragically murdered in 2008 at age 25. Double your activity's impact by dedicating it to Jana, and registering it at the 1100Torches website.

Scroll our pages -- there's a wealth of other pro-choice artists and ideas. We'd like to hear about yours, too. Here's to 2009 and beyond ...

by Cindy Cooper

pictured above, a poster from the Exit Art show, Signs of Change, of graphics and political movements

Everything Old is New: Dear Sisters

A wonderful collection by editors Rosalyn Baxandall and Linda Gordon provides lots of ready made material for creative artists.

Their book, "Dear Sisters: Dispatches from the Women's Liberation Movement," gathers eclectic works of over 100 feminists active in the 1960s and 70s. But this text, first published in 2000 (paperback in 2001), is no ordinary compilation of dreary articles and dull essays. In it are cartoons, essays, poems, satire, songs ... the thunder and raucous joy of the struggle for women's rights. Creativity spills out of these pages.

The book's twelve chapters naturally include reproductive rights, as well as health, sexuality, family and culture. Just about any page can be translated into an art piece or performance. There is, for example, a 1969 cartoon by Irene Peslikis that might be the definition of irreverence (page 148): with an array of phallic symbols, it shows a member of the Catholic hierarchy waving a banner that says: "Friends of the Fetus." A more serious woodcut poster (p. 153) says: STOP FORCED STERILIZATION/ALTO A ESTERILIZACION FORZADA." A cartoon shows Wonder Woman wielding a speculum as her weapon (p.123).

One of my favorites, and one that might make a great period performance piece, is the gender-switching "Hernia: A Satire on Abortion Law Repeal" by Sarah Wernick Lockeretz (p. 144). In a prologue to it, editors Baxandall and Gordon explain: "The women's liberation's approach to abortion was encapsulated in the slogan, "If Men Could Get Pregnant, Abortion Would be a Sacrament." In other words, feminists insisted on interpreting abortion in the context of male privilege and female subordination...."

"Hernia" is written as a faux newspaper article by someone who understood the genre elements of the day, and used them to her advantage. Here are a few excerpts:

NEW MILITANT DEMAND PRESENTED TO STATE LEGISLATURE

A band of militant men recently disrupted a session of the state legislature calling for hernia operations on demand. The strident males--mostly jacket-less and tie­less, many not wearing athletic supports -- puzzled and alarmed the legislators, medical experts and others present.

The attractive blond spokesman for the radicals, who was wearing a wedding band, seized the microphone and spoke in a gruff voice read the demands of the group. As the legislator, who speech on public health had been interrupted, moved from the podium, she murmured, "What do these men want anyway?"

....State legislation generally permits men to obtain legal hernia surgery if the reasons are valid. All states permit hernia operations in order to save a man's life. Some states interpret this to allow surgery to a man if two psychiatrists testify that he will commit suicide because of his hernia..... Many states tolerate the operation if the hernia is the result of a violent attack on the man....

Conservatives oppose any liberalization of existing laws, fearing that such changes will open the way to herniorraphy on demand.

...Perhaps the response of the majority was best summarized by a leading anthropologist when she remarked, "In all known human societies men have had hernias. We simply can’t change the facts of nature.”

Aside from using this particular writing (with permission), gender-flipping is a wonderful exercise for exposing hypocrisy. (For special fun, try flipping a right-wing talk show host!)

The Baxandall-Gordon collection, well-worth having, can be opened to any page to start a discussion. One great place to buy Dear Sisters is from Women and Children First, a feminist bookstore in Chicago that will deliver anywhere. The W&C direct order inquiry/link is here. You can see a Google preview of the book here.

This and other wonderful resources about women's history also can be found at the Chicago Women's Liberation Union Marketplace.

by Cindy Cooper

pictured above: cover of Dear Sisters, ed Rosalyn Baxandall and Linda Gordon

Tell Your Choice Story in the New Year

Telling your story has never been easier. And it's an important thing to do -- not only for you, but to help someone else, as well.

And telling stories also breaks the silence that can build up around choice issues. Lots of people are still surprised to learn how common abortion is in the U.S. -- today, one in three women has an abortion, according to the trustworthy analysis of the respected Alan Guttmacher Institute. But to hear the anti-abortion groups spew, you'd think every woman who has an abortion is in a mental institution suffering severe trauma. Not so. The women who have abortions are regular women, who are sitting next to you on at a restaurant, in the classroom, at the ballgame. And one in three chances, it's you!

The Feminist Women's Health Center in Washington State has made it incredibly easy for women to tell their stories and have them posted online. A woman need only write it in an email and send it to FWHC, and your comments can be posted. Only the first names that you give are used -- no last names, no email addresses. Even if it might not be safe to tell your story to a neighbor, at the FWHC website, you can open up, and even help others.

FWHC explains:

Telling our personal stories heals us.

Accidental or unintended pregnancy happens to millions of women in the world each year. Because we are fertile for a large part of our lives, and because we are sexual beings, pregnancies happen. It is natural.

It is natural to have strong feelings about being accidentally pregnant. When women tell their stories out loud, they have a healing experience. Keeping your emotions all bottled up can be harmful to human's emotional and physical well-being.

Telling the truth about women’s lives changes the world.

When women tell each other about our lives, we discover common themes. We learn that our own individual experiences of alienation, invisibility, discrimination, lack of recognition, and family pressures are experienced by other women. Feminism is born by telling our stories and by listening to each other.

Hundreds of stories are already online (and Words of Choice used one in its last performance series, a short and taut piece about the interminable few-minute wait for results from a home pregnancy test. Some stories are recent; others go back ten years. In their own words, women start out with ages and situations: I am 42; I am 18; I am 33 and have 3 children. And they go on from there.

"After about a week, I started to feel like my boyfriend wasn't much more than a child himself, he had no idea how hard it would be. Although this was not my reasoning for deciding to have (an) abortion, it made me realize that this would ultimately be my decision and responsibility alone. I wasn't ready. "

Or:"I'm still debating, but I don't want a child who is going to ask me where's my dad, and how come all my cousins have a mom and dad and I don't. "

Or: "Before I had my abortion, I read every story in your archive, and it did help."

The stories can also make for a compelling reading at a campus club or group. Every person can pick one and prepare to present it to others.

Another portion of the FWHC website is open for prose and poetry, such as this entry:

I was the good girl
I was the good-girl.The into sports-girl,
The daddy's little-girl
The mommy's best friend, hell everyone's best friend
the last to have sex, kiss and do anything in our group of friends,
great grades, a good head
on my shoulder, socialy smart. i preached to everyone "condoms!"
It happened to me though. 19 and pregnant.
Who in the world would have ever thought ....

Make a 2009 New Year's Resolution. Read a few stories to remind yourself how important choice is. And tell your story. Future lives and health may depend upon it.

--posted by Cindy Cooper

above: logo from the Feminist Women's Health Center in Washington State