Anderson Center will screen ‘Running in High Heels’

The Idaho State University Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center will screen “Running in High Heels,” a documentary on the differences between what women say and do in politics, on Nov. 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. in the ISU Pond Student Union Building.

“Running in High Heels” follows Emily Csendes, a 29-year old female candidate who campaigned for the New York State Senate in 2004. The film underscores what its producers see as the cooperative effort that is lacking among women as they run for public office. Instead of supporting one another, the film asserts that women in politics generally choose to work against each other.

Interwoven in the story are the voices and opinions of a variety of women who are active in both conservative and liberal American politics. Two such women are Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and Phyllis Schlafly, political activist and author of “Judicial Tyranny: The New Kings of America?”

Maryann Breschard, the director of “Running in High Heels,” said that, “women make up 52 percent of the world’s population, yet only occupy 14 percent of Congress and only 6 of executive offices.” She also said that women are in the minority both in campaigning for office and for supporting women who run campaigns, which leads to an underrepresentation of women in American politics.

Breschard holds a degree in film and television from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She has worked as a music producer for Atlantic Records and BMG Entertainment, and as a DVD producer on films such as John Woo’s “The Killer” and Costa Gavra’s “Z.”

The screening of “Running in High Heels” is sponsored by the Anderson Center in conjunction with the ISU Student Activities Board, the Pocatello American Association of University Women and the Pocatello League of Women Voters.

The Anderson Center serves as the focal point on campus for the consideration of gender issues. The mission of the center is to increase awareness and promote open dialogue about gender through its resources, services, educational programming and support of gender-related research.

For more information about “Running in Heels” log onto the film’s Web site at www.52women.org. For more information on the upcoming screening of the film, contact the Anderson Center at 282-2805.