Actress Jane Fonda was one of the great figures of the women’s struggle in the 1970s. Along with two other historic feminists, Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan, she founded the Women’s Media Center. We joined her in Rome, where she is shooting the sequel The Book Clubreleased in 2018, which tells the story of four women members of a book club.
What is your reaction after the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States to question the federal right to abortion?
I’m sick of it. Really ? Has the United States really joined the group of backward countries that still have an almost medieval vision of the role of women? It’s more than shocking, it’s almost inconceivable. I hope this decision will motivate women to vote in November [aux élections de mi-mandat, deux ans après la victoire de Joe Biden à la présidentielle] and galvanize the progressive movement.
The Supreme Court has lost all credibility. It has become…a cesspool…a far-right cesspool. Most of my friends are practically in mourning. Some asked me if I thought of staying in Italy. If I was young, I would think about it. But I don’t want to back down. I want to fight.
Some lament that the feminist movement has focused on #metoo and harassment instead of fighting to preserve one of the main achievements of the second feminist wave of the 1960s and 1970s: the right to dispose of one’s body…
I don’t think the feminist movement can be reduced to a hashtag. The advances it has achieved, the values it embodies, are deeply rooted in American women, regardless of age. And that’s not going to change. We are stronger, that’s why men don’t want us to be able to decide whether or not to have a child. They want to keep control, they are afraid.
When I say that, it seems to imply that all men are involved. No way. It is the patriarchy that is in question. Men have always been aware of the strength of women. Evolution shows it: we are the ones who ensure the survival of the species. Who adapt to change. We are constantly changing. When our husband changes jobs, when the children leave the house…
Susan Faludi has just published a column in the “New York Times” where she declares that feminism is paying the price for the “Faustian pact” that feminists have made with celebrity culture…
It’s looking at the problem through the small end of the telescope. That’s not the problem. All movements are subject to recovery. The problem comes from neoliberalism, from globalization. The Democratic Party has lost contact with its base, the blue collars, the workers, and has turned to Wall Street. They voted for whoever told them ” I understand you “. Why didn’t we do this? Why Hillary Clinton Called These People “deplorable” ?
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