What’s your point, Honey? A Documentary About Female Leadership
By: Nicki Gilmour
Six years ago, with the support of the The White House Project, CosmoGirl! launched Project 2024, an initiative to get more young women involved in politics so that we could see a day when just as many women as men run for the highest office in the country – getting beyond gender to agenda. “What’s your point, honey?” puts a new face on political leadership by introducing seven possible contenders coming down the pipeline, while revealing inequalities that still exist today.
I caught up with film-makers Amy Sewell (Mad Hot Ballroom) and Susan Toffler to chat about feminism, leadership and their reasons for making the documentary. They are both highly engaging women and have explored interesting themes in this film highlighting different perspectives such as what children think of equality, having a female president, how father’s want the best for their daughters, and how generation Y is responding to the world around them.
Why did you make this movie and what impact are you trying to create?
Amy:
“One day my daughter asked me why girls cant ride motorcycles. When I asked her why she thought that, she answered that she had never seen a girl ride one. It struck me that if young girls never see women in leadership positions they will never think that one day they can be in one. This movie is to help little girls know where to start.”
Susan:
“We wanted to show that feminism is not a dirty word and it is wrapped around leadership and the ultimate leadership is the Presidency. It’s a marker in time. We want young women to see that they have a responsibility to grab an issue that is important to them and run with it. Having more women in public service will help get more women in the pipeline for leadership positions.”
Tell us about The White House Project and how you got involved with CosmoGirl.
Susan:
“Cosmo Girl is great. The Presidency can be talked about along side hair and make-up.”
Amy:
“We were very lucky to get to follow such a diverse group of girls for the project. Feminism used to be considered a white woman’s privilege to fight for. We need to be in this together- the pay gap from 77 cents to each dollar widens to 67 cents for black women and 57 cents for Hispanic women in this country.”
Watch this clip of “What’s Your Point, Honey?” and for more information or to support the documentary, buy DVDs or participate in the conversation visit the website.
