A reflective piece combining real interviews with some moments of acting with all relating to how women struggled to find their place in
the job market, specially concerning on fields dominated by men. From all kinds of backgrounds, races and jobs, they share their experiences, why they
wanted those jobs (it goes from driving trucks and carpenters to being medical doctors, artists and philosophers, hard labor to more intellectual
ones) and what prevented them from being viewed as equal as men, getting rejected at promotions and facing discrimination.
Michelle Citron's title for it feels a little enigmatic as there's not a clear indication as to "who" is taking things for granted, as neither
the interviews address to us in such manner. With a wide perspective after 40 years of its release and seeing what has changed in between, I
consider that the title addresses to all men (for obvious reasons) but also the women who now have a more comfortable path as for the careers they'll built and how
many of them in the past were denied opportunities or faced countless battles just to earn a decent living. Yet for all the progress made and
conquered by female, there's obstacles in between and a film like this serves to analyse past perspectives, how gloomy things were, how much has
changed, and the things that haven't improved all that much.
Almost all kinds of issues were covered by the professionals here: discriminations, poor working conditions, toxic working environment,
lack of respect, harassment and how they were perceived by male colleagues and bosses. Two of the interviewees appear in some acting segments,
the unlikely but honest friendship between a doctor (Belinda Cloud) and a truck driver (Donna Blue Lachman), and how they cope with their
problems at work, sharing about their stressful routines. Not sure if the film benefits of those moments all that greatly. I was more focused
on the stories, despite the majority of them being very depressive and pessimistic; others were a little humored (the sculptor talking about her death threats
to a co-worker who left her injured. She's very firm and funny).
I find it very worth seeing for its reflection of the topic, not only for female audiences but also male as well. It definitely raises
awareness, empathy and consideration as what every woman goes through on working spaces, even if they don't face similar situations as the ones
presented here, as there's always some difference of treatment depending on the field. It takes films like this to make us take a different
look at things we perceive as routine, when in reality they should be changed a long time ago. 8/10.
