Idaho State University, Anderson Gender Resource Center to host film screening ‘A Girl Like Her” Nov. 7

Idaho State University and The Anderson Gender Resource Center, through a grant from the Department of Health and Welfare, will host a free film screening, “A Girl Like Her,” followed by a panel discussion on Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. in the North Fork Room of the Pond Student Union Building.

Between 1945 and 1973, 1.5 million young and unmarried American women, faced with enormous social pressure, gave their babies up for adoption. In “A Girl Like Her,” Ann Fessler invites viewers to learn and better understand the untold stories of these young women and their struggles as they were sent to maternity homes to give birth and then immediately surrender their children. Returning home alone, they were encouraged to keep silent, move on, and forget what had happened.

The film is based on Fessler’s award winning book, “The Girls Who Went Away,” and addresses issues like dating, sex, “illegitimate” pregnancies and how the public has, or perhaps has not, changed attitudes in these matters.

Following the film will be a panel discussion with participants representing different decades as well as geographical regions, to compare and illustrate differences in both time and place. The goal is to make this event educational, enlightening, open-minded and respectful.

For more information about the event, please contact the Gender Resource Center at 282-2805. For more information about the film, please visit http://agirllikeher.com/

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