A few weeks ago I attended a screening of the documentary film Who Does She Think She Is by Pamela Tanner Boll. (Thanks, Monique.) I had a strong reaction to it and knew immediately I’d want to blog about it, but also wanted to “cook” it a little before I did.

In this film we encounter the  infrequently-told story of artists who are mothers, or is it mothers who are artists? The two roles are not really roles; they are fundamental, clear-down-to-the-bone parts of identity. The five protagonists are very different, but the juggling, the balancing, the compromises, the exhaustion, and the struggles about money are all shown here. As are the rewards, the joys and satisfactions.

The vivid reminder of ways that artistic expression can be both fuelled and thwarted by motherhood struck me hard. I have direct personal experience with both. The choices involved have not grown any easier for young mothers now that they were 30 years ago. We don’t talk to girls about this, do we? Art schools certainly don’t. Not any more than they talk about the ways that women are still marginalized in the male dominated art-world. Or for that matter, about the ancient days when women were worshipped as cultural muses.

Make an effort to see this film, and take middle school age and older children, too. At the screening I attended there was a Q & A at the end. One woman stood and told us: “I had wanted to bring my daughter to see this film. Now, having seen it, I think it’s even more important for my sons.”