Type “Feminism is Dead” into your Google browser. Go on, do it, and come right back to my post. Personally, the things I pulled up were pretty repulsive. In 2009, Miss Venezuela, the winner of the Miss Universe Pageant, was asked what women should do to combat sexism in the workplace. Her response was, “there are no longer any barriers against us”. I pulled up a pontification from a Unitarian Minister explaining that feminism had achieved it’s goal, and now all of the remaining feminists are just man-hating radicals. Perhaps, there is something to that. Women wanting equality for women must be looney or bull dykes. These attitudes mimic the feminist backlash communicated in some 70’s B movies. The easy reaction is to be offended, disheartened, and feel minimalized. The smart reaction is to examine the media and the messages in anti woman film.
I asked my lovely roommate Nicole how I should chose the best/worst anti-feminist movies to put on my least. Do I mention the funniest… or the most offensive? She didn’t hesitate… the most offensive. It is paramount we examine the things that outrage us. Not even because we should “know thy enemy,” but because inside these films, there are qualities we reject because we’re offended. When actually, some of the stereotypes portrayed are things we should embrace.
For example, “all feminists are man-hating radicals,” is of course offensive. You want to throw the statement into garbage A.S.A.P. Look at the sentence, and break it down. What’s the most ridiculous word? Ding ding! It’s “man-hating”. The word that follows it is “radical”. In less than ten words someone has convinced you that being radical is like being a man-hater. Being radical is the most exciting thing you can be… I love being radical!
So without further babbling from yours truly, the 9 most anti-lady 70’s movies according to moi.
Invasion of the Bee Girls #9
1973, directed by Denis Sanders, the tagline is “They’ll love the very life out of your body!”
A powerful cosmic force is turning Earth women into queen bees who kill men by wearing them out sexually. Stop the presses! Ugh. Dr. Susan Harris is researching bees with a smoke machine and a bug eye lens. Basically, she covers them in bee gunk, and it turns them into insatiable sex robots, that aren’t happy unless their assassinating with their libido. Um, there’s a naked woman every 5 minutes, and this wouldn’t make it anti-feminist on it’s own, but every time a woman seems happy or satisfied in this movie, somebody dies. The camera work is hysterical. I actually laugh out loud when I watch this one.
Silly Trailer! The whole movie!
Teenage Mother #8
1967, directed by Jerry Gross (it’s way too fitting of a name)
Okay, not that often do find people writing reviews that go something like this, “I consider myself a politically conservative man, and not a feminist, but this movie is downright insulting to women.” Technically, I know that 1967 is not the 70’s, but this captures the tone, and is so shocking, I had to put it on the list. Basically, it preaches that sex ed. encourages rape. It also has the most traumatizing full on vagina shot I’ve ever seen. It’s hilariously terrible, and will steer you away from childbirth for at least a while. The intro warns you that you are about to see the biggest most important film of all time. It doesn’t mention the horrible sixties flailing dance moves, or overly shot scenes of Arlene, the lead girl, eating a chicken wing.
Satan’s Cheerleaders #7
1977, director -Greydon Clark
The janitor at a high school is actually scouting for a virgin to sacrificezzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzz… *thud*
This movie offends me in the worst way! It bores me to tears! Weaksauce, and I want the life back it stole from me.
Supervixens #6
1975, director – Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer has given us many exploitation movies. His most famous is probably Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! This is his usual schtick, but not his best… to say the least. Basically, it follows a man named Clint who interacts with a bunch of women that have “Super” in their name. He spends the movie being “Harassed” by nymphomaniacs. Most reviews of this movie are like my own. This movie is too much. It’s too sadistic, and leaves me feeling angry and cheated. You should watch Beyond The Valley of Dolls instead. It’s way more fun.
Women in Cages #5
1971, director – Gerado de Leon, starring Pam Grier and Judith Brown.
Most Pam Grier fans haven’t seen this. Perhaps, they shouldn’t. This movie also falls under sexploitation, but ruins the role of the woman instigator. Pam Grier plays Alabama, a warden that can’t let women go. See, now I’m writing in tag lines. Here’s the thing, Pam Grier has played some of the biggest badasses to hit the screen. Movies like Coffee, or Foxy Brown portray a wronged vengeful black woman ready to kick ass. In Women in Cages, she deals in “White Flesh for the Black Market.” How cheesy and sad is that? Pam is not a human trafficker! Watching her sadistically torture these ladies does nothing for me. There is humor here, but not the kind that leaves you feeling good. Do the inmates escape? Do you care?
Trailer! (who narrates these?)
1973
To be honest, this was actually meant to be a porn. It’s so awful that it has been dubbed the “anti-porn”. This one actually is hilarious. Basically, Dora Dildo is a Batman themed crime fighter that … does some stuff? Okay, the long intro to this movie that warns you it is an adult film is really funny. Dora Dildo knows there trouble in Gotham when her “twat twitches”. Ugh!!! Thanks for that, narrator. She also travels the countryside not in a Batmobile, but on one of those big red “Hoppity Hop” balls. You know, the size of a yoga ball, but with a handle? OMG, she attacks a rapist with it! I’d need six pages to tell you how ridiculous this movie is… and I’m hoping you just see for yourself.
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS #3
1975, director – Don Edmonds
You won’t hear me hating on every B film that tries to make Nazis entertaining. Lots of these projects make goose stepping, book burning, and violent war criminals look pretty goofy. There is a comic’s argument that states, everything is up for mockery, because sometimes it’s the first way we can examine really f***** up events. Basically, if you can laugh at it… you can discuss it and learn. I agree, but I also think that when we choose to exploit these things, like Nazi Germany, we are given a responsibility to not be malicious. Of course, feathers will be ruffled… but don’t pluck the chicken. Whew* This movie is crazy. It’s banned in Austria and Germany, and I can understand why. Ilsa is based on real Nazi women. She’s a blend of Irma Grese and Ilsa Koch. Both of these women tortured and murdered. Ilse was the wife of a commandant of concentration camps. Survivors claimed she used the skin from her victims to make lampshades and wallets. Eventually, she was convicted of war crimes and committed suicide. Irma was a warden at camps, including Auschwitz. She used her half starved dogs to ravage prisoners. She also wore heavy boots and a plaited whip that she used frequently in the camp. She was executed as the youngest woman to die under the English judiciary system in the 20th century.
The movie is pretty sickening, violent, and over the top. Her character is definitely brutal… but sexy? No way! The premise is that Ilsa, through torture, will prove that women can take more than men… thus making them fit for the front lines. ????????????????? Not sexy, in my humble opinion.
SS Camp 5: Women’s Hell #2
1977, director – Sergio Garrone
You aren’t shocked that another Nazi film made the list. At least this time I can skip the exposition. So this has much in common with Ilse, but it’s more boring, and less stylized. It’s about women prisoners trying to hold on in a concentration camp, while serving as prostitutes for Nazi officers. The violence is cheap, but sickens me nonetheless. Don’t eat while you watch this. It’ll make anything taste bad.
If you must.. trailer… you’ve been warned
Ready for the worst of the worst????
Cannibal Holocaust #1
1980, director – Ruggero Deodato
This film has been banned in 50 countries. Many people think it’s the most controversial film of all time. I don’t think it matters. This gem is about a 2nd team of documentary makers that go into the Amazon basin to find out what happened to the 1st team. I know, 1980 isn’t the seventies, but this belongs on my list. Besides all the nasty gore relating to the “indigenous tribe’s” cannibalism, 7 animals are slaughtered on screen. They even make sure to kick the pig a few times before they shoot it. They also brutalize a sea turtle, kill it, and then eat it. Sigh… the sexual violence is awful, and the the Yanomamo and Shamatari tribes were misrepresented terribly. Apparently, the director was sadistic towards the local Columbians he used. It’s believed they also went unpaid. Deodato was arrested after the movie was released, but went relatively unpunished. In my opinion, this movie is monstrous. I feel a little physically sick now…
DO NOT watch any of this if you’re sensitive… it will stick with you, but the trailer is pretty tame.
So there you are… Of course, there’s a ton more… but this is the best I can do for now. Be careful if you attempt to watch any of these movies, especially the ones near the bottom of the list. I don’t condone violence or cruelty, but I do try to analyze it.
Lyska
Oh man, “twat twitching” is officially my new favorite phrase to hate! Gross gross gross!