Mrs. America History of Battles Over Presidency and Sexism

FEATURING STEPHANIE ABRAHAM – As large segments of the American population remains under quarantine orders to beat the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a predictable surge in the consumption of film and television. Today we’ll take a break from the current political situation and flash back to the politics of nearly 50 years ago through the lens of a new series on Hulu called Mrs. America.

The show features the political battle over women’s rights through the activism of rightwing figures like Phyllis Schlafly as well as more well-known left wing figures like Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, and, the nation’s first African American female Presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm. Chisholm’s challenge to George McGovern at a time when President Richard Nixon was the incumbent mirrors so many of the political battles that played out just now between Senator Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden as Trump runs for reelection.

Stephanie Abraham  is the Pop Culture Correspondent and Film Critic for Rising Up With Sonali. She is a writer and media critic, she helped found the feminist magazine make/shift and was the founding editor of the feminist magazine LOUDmouth. Her works have been published in McSweeney’s, Al Jazeera, Mizna and Bitch Magazine.