This film is part of Free

Pictures on Pink Paper

Women question the 'natural' established order in Lis Rhodes' experimental film.

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 39 mins

Overview

"She is still doing invisible work for invisible pay." A tragic statement to have to repeat four decades on from Lis Rhodes' experimental film about women talking, thinking aloud and questioning the 'natural' established order; a critique of past experiences and ways of thinking. Can the oppression of women be articulated without mimicking the very expression and language which define power relations? By looking at how women are associated with the natural - rather than the abstract - language can be seen as a cause rather than a symptom of gender inequalities.

"Words have ways of manipulating thought," Rhodes writes; "Although a personal pronoun cannot hold the complexity of gender and it depends on more than the use of a pronoun to upset the constraints of patriarchy - women all over the world try constantly to undo these patterns of control." Rhodes is a key figure in the history of artist filmmaking history and has played an important role in the campaign for women’s rights through art, education and organisation.