Described by Denise Bucher NZZaS as “one of the most important documentaries of our times,” it completes the avalanche of female awakening which started this year with the so called “#MeToo” revolution.
In India every 7th minute a woman gets raped, in Africa each year about 2 million clitorises are cut, in Japan the imagery of a vagina is forbidden even today and the protective walls around the Christian Church are braking apart from every-day scandals about raping and pedophilia. All these painful truths, with which women around the world live in a quiet consent, make the title of the movie rather sarcastic. Yes, I would say, the title carries a certain note of sarcasm. But most surprisingly, it carries also a note enthusiasm and optimism, particularly visible at the official Poster. This film is all about the spirit of activism. In comparison to the heaviness of its topic, the director succeeds to transmit the positive message about self-determination that in the case of women is strongly connected with sexuality.
It crosses over 5 stories of 5 women who belong to 5 different cultural milieus. Deborah Feldman, Leyla Hussein, Rokudenashiko, Doris Wagner and Vithika Yadav commit themselves with great amount of energy to present the painful truth about female pleasure in another light. In the light of active approach and fight for sexual self-determination. “Men have to finally accept” says one of the female heroes, “that we are not idiots. We want and we are able to enjoy sexually too.”
#Female Pleasure is a movie that shows the universal nature of all cultural and religious boundaries. These mechanisms, even today, strongly determine women’s lives. At the same time the five women protagonists of this movie testify how one can, with courage, strength and joy on life, change each of these existing structures. (quote from the poster of the film)
All 5 women protagonists manage to break the tabu of silence and of shame. They manage to break through the walls of their communities and the patriarchal structures in which violence against women is justified, either by law or by the holy scriptures.
One of the strongest messages that this documentary carries is the message of outing – go out and speak out – your truth. “Our power lies in make in it public!” says Doris Wagner, one of the protagonists of the film, ex-member of one Catholic order of nuns, who ended up being systematically raped by a priest. No matter how painful it was, no matter how ashamed or bad you feel about it, you have to go out and share your truth. The more such stories are shared, the stronger we get. Truth will save us.
Basically, the socio-political message impregnated throughout these 5 stories, can be synthesized in one single truth: women need to awake and start fight for their rights, including their sexual rights. Sexual rights are since recently, according to the World Health Association, part of the basic human rights.
