Tasting the Flouride: The Potential of Feature Film to Enhance the Instruction of the Women’s Movement

Abstract

This paper addresses our desire to learn more about effective practices with film and our aspiration to promote a more inclusive curriculum. Specifically, we consider how the film Iron Jawed Angels impacted students’ understanding of the American women’s movement, particularly the fight for suffrage by the National Women’s Party, and examines the questions: (a) How can feature films be used to incorporate a close examination of the women’s movement into the curriculum? (b) How do students make sense of the women’s movement when it appears in a feature film during classroom activities? For most students, the film appeared to call important attention to women’s history. The results suggest that feature films with females as main characters or with a narrative based primarily on female perspectives can be used to promote engagement with women’s issues and to promote the inclusion of female perspectives in the secondary curriculum. However, we also found important differences between how female and male students responded to the film.

Citation

Marcus, A.S. and Monaghan, M. (2009), "Tasting the Flouride: The Potential of Feature Film to Enhance the Instruction of the Women’s Movement", Social Studies Research and Practice, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 13-30. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-01-2009-B0002