Year: 2019
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: women, film and agency in the 1970s and 1980s taxation in 1971, gender-neutral parental insurance in 1974, and the expansion of childcare from the mid-1970s. 4 These changes came parallel with developments in reproductive research and technology that altered the ways in which pregnancy and childbirth could be controlled and monitored, for example through new contraceptives and technological advances in maternity care. 5 In this essay, I explore the intersection between these developments in Sweden.My focus is three films dealing with issues related to reproduction: Gunnel Lindblom's Sally and Freedom (Sally och friheten, 1981), Marianne Ahrne's På liv och död (' A Matter of Life and Death ' , 1986), and Ann Zacharias' Testet ('The Test' , 1987). 6 These three productions are all narrative fiction films with theatrical distribution that were made by Swedish women directors in the wake of the sexual revolution.Reproductive themes are explored in different ways in the films.The story in Sally and Freedom is framed by two abortions.Sally-a 30-year-old social worker longing for freedom and independence-is pleased with having only one child and decides to terminate her pregnancy at the start of the film and separate from her husband, Jonas.Soon she starts a new relationship with Simon, a teacher who shares her ideals, which proves more difficult than she expected, and results in her having another abortion at the end of the film.På liv och död is about the complicated relationship between Nadja, a star journalist and photographer, and the gynaecologist Stefan, and the story is set in the delivery ward where Stefan works and where Nadja is writing a report for her paper.Finally, Testet is a chamber drama about a young couple-the Swedish woman Inga and her French partner Richard-which takes place while they wait the two hours for the result of Inga's pregnancy test.Two issues are in focus in my essay: first, the gendering of the presentation of the filmmakers and their films in reports about them in the press, and second, how the changes in women's freedom that had taken place in the 1970s and 1980s were represented in film.Combining a discussion of women filmmakers with a discussion of reproduction is not straightforward.Any study of women
Author: Elisabet Björklund
Institution: Linnaeus University
Language: English
Topic: Cinema History and Criticism
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: Vetenskapsrådet
OpenAlex ID: W2995609129