User:13gnf/sandbox

= Town Bloody Hall (1971) = Introduction

Town Bloody Hall is a documentary filmed in 1971, recording a feminist and women’s rights debate. It was led by four women: Germaine Gree r, Jill Johnston, Jacqueline Ceballos and Diana Trilling, who were all vocal feminist s. It was moderated by author Norman Mailer. Other well-known figures such as Susan Sontag and Betty Friedan attended. The debate covers rhetoric from both male and females and covers what it means to be a woman, roles she should fill and ideas of feminism. The documentary is funny, heated, and full of passionate discussion.

Setting

Town Bloody Hall is a recording of a debate that took place in the town hall in New York City on April 30th, 1971. The point of the debate itself was to discuss feminist ideas and reconcile with the public and their views on the subject. The debate was an ephemeral event, and could not be replicated. Those not in attendance would not be able to have an understanding of the debate and discussion without being in attendance. Articles and reviews on the debate would, of course, be biased as they would reflect the author's opinion. The documentary itself, by Donn Alan Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, allowed the debate to become a concrete moment in feminist history by making a record of the exact occurrence and utterances of the participants. Town Bloody Hall was advertised as a debate regarding Women’s Liberation. It took place on April 30th, 1971 in New York City’s Town Hall. The event was small and was a standing audience only. The point of it was to watch Norman Mailer, who had recently written The Prisoner of Sex debate feminists with different points of view. He stood as the figure for the privileged, white, straight, cis-gendered male. This was significant as he represented the non-oppressed group in society, who hold the most power and typically aid in establishing oppressive patterns. In the media, Mailer was marketed as the devil’s advocate.

''“Frequently funny, it’s a pleasure to watch. Mailer backpedals and obfuscates like a madman, but what finally makes Town Bloody Hall – so compelling and unsettling – is the impression that such serious, spirited debate is a thing of the past” –'' Mark Holcomb, The Village Voice

Throughout the debate, the women challenge Mailer and his ideas of masculinity, femininity, gender roles, and queer narrative. He often backpedals and tries to cover himself after being proven wrong, and frequently references fairness, mainly that pertains to himself. The debate focuses mainly on second wave feminism and women’s liberation.

Events and Political Issues Preceding the Debate

Leading up to this debate, there were many issues being covered in the media, politics and feminist circles.

January 12th, 1971        

            The U.S. Supreme Court debated its first abortion case. This covered the potential abolition of abortion laws in thirty-nine states. These states only allowed abortion “when necessary for the preservation of the mother’s health”. The presiding judge determined that the law was vague and due to this was being challenged in Indiana, New Jersey, and Colorado. Judge Gerhard Gessell determined that the federal courts should return to existing abortion control laws in Minnesota, Missouri, Louisiana, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont.

January 24th 1971

New York Radical Feminists host “Speak Out on Rape” where women discussed and analysed assumptions made about rape and its victims.

April 3rd 1970

President Richard Nixon ordered limits to military physicians to perform abortions on bases which required them to adhere to laws of the states where they were based.

April 21st  1971

NOW New York published a repot on the sex-bias in public schools.

Participants

There were five participants in the Town Bloody Hall debate. Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, Jacqueline Ceballos, Diana Trilling and Norman Mailer. It is important to note that each panellist has a different working definition of feminism, what the aims of feminism should be.

Germaine Greer

Germaine Greer was born in Australia. She is an author whose voice strongly emphasized the values and interest in second-wave feminism. Her first book was titled The Female Eunuch and was written in 1970. She has written other books including Sex and Destiny: The Politics of Human Fertility (1984), The Change: Women, Ageing and the Menopause (1991), The Whole Woman (1999), Shakespeare’s Wife (2007) and White Beech: The Rainforest Years (2013). She considers herself a liberation feminist, instead of an equality feminist, this is due to her belief that to be equal is to “live the lives of unfree men”. Liberation, in her view, sees the female’s potential as its own entity, rather than compared to men’s.

Jill Johnston

Jill Johnston was an American feminist, lesbian spokeswoman and author, who was born in England. In the early 1970s, she wrote the book Lesbian Nation. She also wrote for The Village Voice. She was the only child of her parents, who were never married and separated in her infancy. Some credit this “unconventional” raising to help in developing her feminist ideas.

Jacqueline Ceballos

Jacqueline Ceballos is the former president of the New York Chapter of National Organization for Women. She is the founder of the Veteran Feminists of America. This group is responsible for documenting second-wave feminism.

Diana Trilling

Diana Trilling, born Diana Rubin, was an American literary critic. She was the oldest member of the debate group. Trilling was a reviewer for The Nation magazine where she wrote about literature. She has written a handful of works including We Must March My Darlings (1977), The Beginning of the Journey (1993), a memoir of her life and her marriage. She also wrote a book of essays titled Mrs. Harris (1981). She was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and elected in 1976.

Norman Mailer

Norman Mailer was an American novelist, playwrigh t, and political activist. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Executioner’s Song.

Others In Attendance

In attendance were a few other feminist icons. Most notably was Susan Sontag, the Jewish-American writer and political activist. She was passionate about and spoke out on areas of conflict, AIDS, human rights and leftist ideology. She has been called the most influential critic of her generation. It is because of this notoriety that her presence and interest in the Town Bloody Hall debate is so significant.

Waves of Feminism

There are four waves of feminism, preceding and following the debate. The debate was shaped by the earlier waves and framed the discussion for the following waves. Though feminism is thought to have begun in the eighteenth century during the Enlightenment period, first wave feminism took place in the early twentieth century. It focused mainly on legal issues, gender equality and suffrage movements around 1910 to 1950. The second wave, which the debate mainly pertains to, happened between the 1960s and 1980s. It began in the United States. It covered a broader range of topics than the first wave, including reproductive rights, workplace, family roles and issues. Family issues included topics such as domestic violence and marital rape. It helped to establish women’s shelters and aided in the development of better custody and divorce laws. The third wave took place between the 1990s and 2010. This wave came to be after the perceived failures of second-wave feminism. This wave attempted to encompass more identities in feminist debate. These identities attempted to include various cultural backgrounds, races, religions and ethnicities. The fourth wave began in 2008 and is up to present day. It discusses conflicts in recent developments of the feminist movement. Some feel that this wave was inspired by Take Our Daughters To Work Day. It uses social media as a main platform of advocacy. Topics included in this wave are plus-size support, transgender issues, sex work acceptance, and reproductive justice. Diana Diamond defines fourth-wave feminism as a movement that "combines politics, psychology, and spirituality in an overarching vision of change." Each wave of feminism builds upon the previous wave and aims to be more inclusive, and spread awareness to more issues.

Town Hall Re-Enactment

There was a re-enactment produced of Town Bloody Hall by The Wooster Group, an experimental theatre group. This re-enactment was called Town Hall Affair and is still being performed. According to the Wooster Group website, Town Hall Affair “delves into the revolutionary fervour of feminist thinking and art “happenings” in 1970s New York. The piece is based on the Hegedus & Pennebaker film Town Bloody Hall which documents a panel held at Town Hall in 1971. The panel featured feminist thinkers and activists – including Jacqueline Ceballos, Germaine Greer, Jill Johnston, and Diana Trilling – with Norman Mailer serving as moderator.”

Reviews of Debate

The debate has generally been received well and has stood the test of time. On Rotten Tomatoes it garnered a one hundred percent fresh rating.

“The entire debate at Town Hall is defined by a manic, stimulating energy – the kind that’s hard to replicate via Twitter wars.” – Melissa Anderson, ArtForum

“Watching this intriguing documentary makes one realise that something has been lost in today’s age of spoon-fed media and five second sound bites” – Michael Phillips, Citysearch

“If you can keep your focus on the historical relevance of women’s liberation, it becomes a keen study of human nature trying to grow” – Rachel Gordon, filmcritic.com

Most reviews cite that the debate is still relevant today and that it was of great importance at the time.