Original subtitles

WOMEN RESPOND

to a question produced by Antenne 2

for the show W For Women

A Cine-Tract by Agnes Varda

Our body Our sex

What does it mean to be a woman?

To be a woman is to be born female.

To be a woman is to live in a woman's body.

It's me. My entire body.

I am more than the hot points of men's desire.

I am not just sex and breasts.

I am a woman's body.

Being a woman is also to have a woman's head.

A head which thinks differently from a man's.

Even though it's hard to find my own self in a man's world...

No, no! I am not a man without head or tail.

The woman

To be a woman is to be unique, desired,

always there, mysterious, with whims and fancies to match.

As long as you stand out.

Because we women are supposedly all the same.

Nuisances, frivolous, gossips, bitches, sluts, etc!

Women

From now on, it's all going to change.

I can no longer bear to be loved by misogynists.

I am unique, ok,

but I represent all women.

I am unique, ok, but I represent all women.

Do all women want to become mothers?

I do.

I don't.

I feel beautiful, full and desirable.

- "Give us brothers and sisters." - Says the child.

"Give us sons, soldiers, workmen, scientists."

"Give us daughters, cooks, workwomen, mothers."

Says Society.

That's fine by me, I love children.

I don't care about Society. I am giving birth to a child.

Not me.

Women are made to have children!

Do the same as me, little girl.

A woman who has never known motherhood isn't a real woman.

Come off it!

Is a man who has not known fatherhood less of a man?

What about Chevalier? And Einstein?

Mermoz? Balzac? Mozart?

What is a real woman?

How dare they decide whether we are women or not?

How do we be women outside masculine opinion?

What is a woman's body?

- If we must always account... - for our weights and measures?

Men don't give us the right to grow old.

Shot Censored by the Penal Code, Section 283

If our sex is for pleasure and children, how do we live it?

How do we live our sex?

We don't appear naked in this film gratuitously.

- Nor to be ogled. - We want to affirm our desires.

- Pleasure, not perversion. - Sexuality, not sex shop.

Love, not blackmail.

You live in contradiction when you are in a woman's body.

Crazy! We're told, "Hide yourself, cover your sex."

And then we're told, "Show yourself, your body sells!"

Make your minds up!

That's right!

We're told, "Be modest! Don't show your ass!"

Since we were little, we've been told:

"Hide when you pee! It's not for others to see!"

We boys always try to pee further than the others.

We girls are told to hide ourselves!

I'm fed up!

Where's the music?

From now on, it's going to change!

I'm not ashamed of my sex. I never have been.

I'd almost rather hide my peeling nose

than my sex which is hidden.

I'm not ashamed of my sex at all.

On the contrary.

I don't feel,

although Society tries to convince me otherwise,

that something's missing between my legs.

I'm happy as I am.

I've had a lot of trouble with my sex,

but I'm not unhappy. I'm glad to be a woman.

I'm not ashamed of my sex.

When I have daughters I'll try to undo these taboos

and ridiculously absurd stereotypes,

so they can become completely liberated.

We're told, "Show your legs, the customer likes it."

I don't like my body being used like this.

I don't like my body being exploited to boost sales.

Nice lines and curves. A beautiful desk.

She's prettier, but it's still me they're using to make money.

I love it when you play hard...

Each time I see a poster like that, I think it's absurd

to constantly see naked women.

It feels like I'm on the poster.

Each time a woman is undressed to sell a product...

- It's me they undress. - Me they display.

- Me they despise. - Me they desire.

- Me they criticise. - Me they buy.

- Me they order by phone. - Me they pay for by check or cash.

Me they offer as fodder for men's desire.

Go on, keep complaining!

Soon we'll no longer desire you. How sorry you'll be!

I have enough love in me to be desirable.

I don't have to be an object.

At the risk of displeasing you and cutting ties,

dear fathers, husbands, lovers, bosses and buddies,

we women are taking charge of our evolution.

And if you still need women and love,

you will have to change your habits and some of your tastes.

I am a woman. Women must be reinvented.

Then, love must be reinvented.

We agree.

To be continued...

Subtitling TITRA FILM Paris