Growing Up Female

Invited

Growing Up Female captures six women, from the ages of four to twenty-six, as they experience coming of age in America. Each reveals impressions specific to her age. Kindergarten girls play with dolls and make mock homesteads, while the boys are outside moving trucks in sand and mimicking work. An eleven-year-old prefers the freedom of pants, though her mother longs for her to wear more dresses. In high school, a teenager is counseled on how to be a suitable wife. A young single mother must forgo a college scholarship for a factory job that will allow her to provide for her daughter. A twenty-something discusses the influence of men, fashion, and advertising. Touchingly revelatory, this pioneering feminist film acknowledges the countless pressures applied to young women and the many forms these influences can take.  ST

This film screened as part of the 40th Anniversary of New Day Films, a program of New Day Films’s very first documentaries directed by the four founding members: Liane Brandon, Jim Klein, Julia Reichert, and Amalie Rothschild.

Directors

Jim Klein, Julia Reichert

Producers

Jim Klein, Julia Reichert

Editors

Jim Klein, Julia Reichert

Cinematographers

Jim Medalia, Julia Reichert

Release Year

1971

Festival Year

2012

Country

United States

Run Time

52 minutes