women

Miss Representation, film airing tonight (10/20/11)

A powerful film about women will be televised on the OWN network at 9pm tonight. The film Miss Representation “explores women’s under-representation in positions of power by challenging their limited and often disparaging portrayals in the media,” according to the description from the OWN Documentary Club web site. Appearing in the film are such notables as Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson, and Gloria Steinem. See a preview: Miss Representation trailer If you miss the broadcast, Miss Representation is also available at Snell Library (currently checked out, but you can “place a hold” and be notified when it becomes available).

Online Exhibits

We’re working on creating a new template for online exhibits for the Library.  As part of the process, I’ve been looking at a number of online exhibits, and found the subject matter of “She is More to be Pitied than Censured” at Brown University to be particularly interesting.  The case of Mary Rogers reminded me of the young women lured to the big city, that Erik Larson so expertly describes in The Devil in the White City .  H. H. Holmes would also prey on similar young women who traveled to Chicago.  The Brown exhibit highlights a number of cases, including many that took place in Massachusetts and throughout New England.  It also deals with the Beecher-Tilton scandal, in which Harriet Beecher Stowe’s brother was accused of adultery.  The exhibit is organized around the 1894 song “She is More to be Pitied than Censured” by William B. Gray.  I was able to find an old recording of the song by Marguerite Newton at the Internet Archive! Explore on your own, and let me know what you think.