Women Across Cultures

Inside the fight over abortion through the stories of women struggling with unplanned pregnancies. Drawing on a landmark FRONTLINE film from the 1980s, a look at both sides of the divide in a community still embroiled in the conflict. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

Male or female, boy or girl? Most of us can answer that question without a second thought- but for some people, the answer isn't so simple. This special takes us firsthand into the daily lives of three people who are transgender, revealing a remarkable slice of life. We witness their struggles and triumphs, and experience their hopes and fears. How do they manage at work, build careers, maintain friendships, and nurture lasting personal partnerships? Each of the characters in the film tells their story in their own words as we follow them through life's daily battles and victories both large and small. -- container.

Dan Rather Reports on Forced Adoption is a 2-part series. For more information refer to the individual episodic descriptions.

In this four-part series, Dr. Amanda Foreman traverses countries and continents to uncover and interrogate key stories of the strong, radical and revolutionary women that have made and changed the course of human history from 10,000 BC to the present day. The diverse characters she explores range from Mughal Empress Nur Jahan, who helped establish trade routes and pioneered the visual aesthetic of India, to American activist Margaret Sanger, who coined the term ‘birth control’ and developed the contraceptive pill. The series geographical reach is just as ambitious, covering everywhere from ancient Greece to medieval France; from first-century Vietnam to modern America. The Ascent of Woman argues that the history of women isn’t a straight line from Eve’s apple to Margaret Sanger’s Pill. Instead, over the past ten thousand years it has veered wildly between extremes of freedom and oppression, inclusion and exclusion. The reason is that the status of women is a barometer of a society’s tolerance, fairness and openness. A poor record on women’s rights goes hand-in-hand with low economic output and high levels of violence. For the next economic cycle to be the age of full participation, there has to be a woman-led revolution that unleashes the potential of all individuals. At stake are the goals of autonomy, authority, and agency for all women.

Five years ago, the Philippine Congress passed a reproductive health law guaranteeing universal access to family planning, but misinformation is still rife. This film follows three campaigners working in communities to challenge the myths, and help girls and women plan their families and take control of their futures.

The Pokot people come from northwest Kenya and a part of Uganda. Proud and fiercely independent, the Pokot are bearers of an ancient culture with some well-entrenched rituals. Female genital mutilation, a rite of passage into womanhood, is one of them. This film presents a collection of testimonies of those who confront this tradition—of those who fight it and, more often, those who suffer its consequences.

This documentary film depicts a group of young Afghan women striving to become world-class boxers and training without the most basic facilities in the national stadium where the Taliban has recently executed women. Though they are loyal to their country, they dare to defy its traditions. Inspired by their tenacious coach, these courageous boxers openly dream of their future, and even a shot at the Olympics. Committed to a challenging regime and enduring family and societal pressures to abandon their training, the women are determined to fight their way onto an international stage. This film shadows them closely over the course of a year so viewers have the chance to know them both as individuals and as a team of competitors punching well above their weight. The Boxing Girls of Kabul reveals a compelling journey of both personal and political transformation and illustrates the power of fighting for what you believe in. With English subtitles. (52 minutes)

An award-winning and moving film narrated by actress Meryl Streep, which at times is hard to watch and even harder to listen to. It’s an up-close and personal look at the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). An estimated 140 million women and girls have undergone some form of FGM. Its justification is that it is an important initiation, which reinforces virginity, chastity, purity, marriage ability and fidelity. FGM is a harmful and brutal practice—it is associated with long-term physical and psychological morbidity of girls and women who are subjected to it. FGM is not just a cultural norm in parts of the developing world, but is also, sadly, occurring among some practicing communities in the West. Many of the girls travel from their homes in Europe, North America and Australia back to their parents’ homeland to undergo the practice.

The brutal rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi shocked the world. The victim, who became known as Nirbhaya (fearless), succumbed to her injuries two weeks later, but not before giving testimonies against her attackers. Her death provoked outrage and protests across India as people demanded dramatic improvements to women’s rights. But five years on, has anything really changed? We revisit the city to ask women what they think. (6 minute video)

Miss Honduras Maria Jose Alvarado became a tragic symbol of gender-based violence after she was killed, but many Honduran women live in fear of being attacked by men.

Go on an intimate and eye-opening journey inside a new frontier. Told from the perspective of parents, doctors, and, most revealing of all, eight transgender kids themselves, ranging in ages from 9 to 19, FRONTLINE takes a powerful look at this new generation, exploring the medical possibilities, struggles, and choices transgender kids and their families face today. Distributed by PBS Distribution

Sometimes funny, often poignant, always truthful, Habla is an award-winning series of specials on HBO Latino that since 2003 has put the faces and voices of U.S. Latinos on the screen like no other show has done before. In this 10th installment, the joys and challenges of being Latina in the U.S. are explored by women of all ages from many diverse backgrounds and countries – from a newspaper CEO-publisher to an Olympic boxing medalist, from a nanny to a news producer who is sometimes mistaken for her daughter’s nanny, from a victim of domestic violence to an advocate for victims of domestic violence, from a NASA scientist to an internationally known plus-sized model. We even hear from a male Latino celebrity hairdresser who gives his own perspective on Latina women and how they perceive themselves. Habla Women is not just a chance to stand up and be heard, but an opportunity to bridge cultural gaps – a bridge that is crossed in both directions. An HBO Production.

In December 2012, a young medical student was brutally gang-raped on board a bus in Delhi. Horrified by the attack, 28-year-old British Asian Radha Bedi travels to India to uncover the reality of life for young women there. Radha has been to India before, but this time she’s traveling alone and facing up to some painful truths about her ancestral homeland. Radha has faced sexual harassment herself in India on past visits and difficult memories return as she meets girls who’ve suffered appalling brutality. As well as coming face to face with the father of the Delhi rape victim, Radha meets 15 year-old Tuba, who has horrific burns all over her body caused in an acid attack from a rebuffed male admirer. A BBC Production. (53 minutes)

The massive imbalance in the sexes due to the penchant for male offspring since China's single-child policy was introduced in 1980, means brides are in short supply and the men most likely to find a wife are those in a strong financial position. With the economic liberalization of China and the rise of the wealthy businessman, an ancient tradition has resurged: the concubine. Young women, often students from poorer families, seek positions as mistresses at the beckoning call of wealthy men. Hidden away in lavish apartments and given large sums of pocket money, they enjoy a life of ease and luxury. The wives of these men have gone to drastic measures to unveil their fickle husbands’ crimes. We take a ride with private detectives and meet the one dubbed, ’The Concubine Killer’.

This 3-part series tells the remarkable story of the most sweeping social revolution in American history, as women have asserted their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity, and personal autonomy in the last 50 years. It's a revolution that has unfolded in public and private, in courts and Congress, in the boardroom and the bedroom, changing not only what the world expects from women, but what women expect from themselves. Each program brings this story to life with archival treasures and poignant, often funny interviews with those who led the fight, those who opposed it, and those first generations to benefit from its success. Trailblazing women like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Linda Alvarado share their memories, as do countless women who challenged the status quo in industries from coal-mining to medicine. Narrated by Meryl Streep.

More women in America die from pregnancy-related complications than in any other developed country in the world—and black women are most affected. NewsHour Weekend's Ivette Feliciano reports on one clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, where midwives are working to facilitate better outcomes by bringing holistic care to women of color. This is part of an ongoing series of reports called Chasing the Dream, which reports on poverty and opportunity in America.

This five-part series takes the conversation about sexual harassment to a deeper level. Examine the factors that enabled sexual harassment to endure in the workplace and look at how popular culture, pay inequity and gender discrimination, and the intersecting issues of race and class affect the way society views women. Explore how, ultimately, we might begin to chart a path forward.

When Pakistani teenager Kainat Soomro accused four men of gang rape, the courageous young woman did not put her suffering behind her. For this documentary, which premiered at Sundance, filmmakers Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellmann spent five years tracing both Kainat's odyssey through Pakistan's broken justice system-and her alleged rapists' quest to clear their names. The result is a powerful and nuanced profile of courage in a society where rape victims and their families are often considered dishonorable and subjected to humiliation, poverty, and mortal danger. Film contains mature content and may not be suitable for all viewers. (56 minutes)

In the UAE, strict laws surround sex outside marriage. Prisons are filled with women who have fallen pregnant while unmarried, often due to abuse. Many are migrant domestic workers, particularly vulnerable and often trapped in the UAE by a law which forbids them from leaving the country without permission. This shocking report exposes the hidden persecution of vulnerable women sentenced under UAE law, their pregnancy used as evidence of their crime.

A "quinceañera" is a coming-of-age celebration for a Latina girl’s 15th birthday, marking her transition from girl to woman. But for many American Latina teenagers, it is an event that means much more, allowing the girls to embrace their chosen identities while still honoring their cultures, traditions and, most of all, the families who have sacrificed so much to give them a good life in the U.S. "15: A Quinceañera Story" is a series of four short films, each under a half hour, that follows five girls from different cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, bonded together by this traditional rite of passage. As the girls pick out their dresses, ready their courts and venues, practice their intricate dance routines, and conquer their nerves, they also reflect (as do their proud parents) on the struggles that have led them to their quinces and the hopes they have for the future. Heartfelt and inspiring, the series highlights a new generation of diverse, young Latina women, coming into their own with confidence and determination while never forgetting where they came from.

From assault to robberies and domestic violence, convictions of young women for violent crimes are skyrocketing. Explicit videos of violent girls are now celebrated on social media. And celebrities like pop star Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Hollywood starlet Emma Roberts have been arrested for assault without any professional repercussions. Why are so many young women so angry? Has gender equality prompted them to take on the dark side of masculinity and make it their own? Has our culture normalized their behavior? Featuring social experiments designed to gauge public reactions, this eye-opening film explores our deeply ingrained attitudes to female violence.

FRONTLINE tells the unimaginable stories of young women coerced into prostitution—and follows one police unit that is committed to rooting out sexual exploitation. With extensive and intimate access to local law enforcement, prosecutors, service providers and the women themselves, the film shines a light on the hidden reality of sex trafficking in America.

A Small Section of the World is a documentary that tells the inspirational story of group of women from a remote farming region of Costa Rica whose ideas sparked a revolution in the coffee growing world. After a crisis, the men of the village left in search of work and the women came together to imagine a different future for themselves, their families, and their community. By building their own coffee mill, they created the first women’s run micro-mill in their country. This remarkable story of perseverance touches lives around the globe and shows how these resourceful women overcame adversity to change the culture within their small section of the world. A story of passion and tenacity, A Small Section of the World is about women’s empowerment, the risky business of coffee and how a cup of coffee can transform lives. Portions with English subtitles.

Rafea Anad is the second wife of a Jordanian Bedouin husband. She attends India’s Barefoot College, an organization that takes uneducated, middle-aged women from poor communities and trains them to become solar engineers. But traditional family ties make it hard for some women, particularly Rafea, to pursue this opportunity. Her husband wants her home and threatens retribution unless she returns. This program follows Rafea as she overcomes difficulties to become a solar engineer, bringing sustainable energy to her village and inspiring other women to seek training, too. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online. A part of the series Why Poverty? (Portions with English subtitles, 60 minutes + 21 minutes of bonus material)

With over 40 million Americans currently online dating, the internet has become an ubiquitous tool in modern courtship. Dating sites and apps such as Tinder, OkCupid, Match, Bumble, Hinge and others are part of a $2.5-billion industry that is rapidly changing the rules of dating, both expanding and accelerating access to potential mates for everything from “hookups” to long-term relationships. Swiped: Hooking Up in the Digital Age follows several 20-something women and men from around the country, who describe in unvarnished detail their experiences with dating apps. As they navigate a seemingly unlimited stream of potential partners, app users navigate the hookup culture, unwanted explicit messages, and the capriciousness of simply “swiping right” (attractive) or “swiping left” (unattractive). The film also features interviews with founders and CEOs of some of the most widely used dating sites, as well as experts and academics who offer social and historical context to the rapidly evolving nature of dating today. Directed by first-time documentary filmmaker Nancy Jo Sales (author of The Bling Ring), the film covers all of the highs and lows of searching for love in the digital age, concluding with a glimpse of the future, as innovations like augmented-reality and virtual-reality dating are appearing just around the corner.

Imagine your husband of 25 years comes home one day and says he wants to change his gender and become a woman. Experience the remarkable story of Gayle, a small-town wife whose husband PJ did just that. Is love truly blind? Follow the pair to their high school reunion, when they have to break the news to surprised classmates.

As the debate over gun regulation continues, gun sales are reaching record heights--driven in no small part by sales to women. While women overwhelmingly support gun control, one in four American women owns a gun. This ABC News report examines this phenomenon. Meet Second Amendment enthusiasts who take girls' night out to the shooting range. Broadcast date: March 15, 2013. (7 minutes)

A documentary examining opposing cultural movements in India (tradition vs. modernism), contrasting the experiences and attitudes of contestants in the Miss India beauty contest with those of participants at a Hindu fundamentalist camp for young girls.