Makers: Voices of Utah Women

KUED Tells Story of Utah's Women's Movement

To complement the PBS film, The Makers, KUED will broadcast a special edition of Utah Now: Makers: Voices of Utah Women, immediately preceding the national program at 7:00 p.m.

Makers: Voices of Utah Women, produced by KUED's Nancy Green, tells the story of the women's movement in Utah through the firsthand accounts of leaders and activists who fought to alter the social fabric of the state. It was a time when women were learning to speak up and speak out. A time when women had different visions of what equality meant. A time when the voices of Utah women clamored to be heard.

The 1970s saw enormous changes in the attitudes and roles of women around the nation. For Utah, it brought to the fore a clash between traditional values and a new consciousness.

"Well the idea that a woman would want an independent identity was a shocking idea," says Karen Shepherd, former U.S. Congresswoman and publisher. "A totally shocking idea. That we might want to work and have independent work lives, that we might want to have economic independence -- that we could have political beliefs that we cared about. It was like discovering a whole new self that you didn't know you were. "

Gayle Ruzicka of the Eagle Forum notes, "The women's movement was very divisive, there were far more women opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment than were supporting it."

"Regardless of which side women fell on, it was an exciting time, a moment in history that changed the roles and expectations of women," according to producer Nancy Green.

The program is part of KUED's Women and Girls Lead Initiative, a multiyear public media initiative to educate, empower and connect Utahns about the issues facing women and girls worldwide. Part of the national PBS project, the initiative combines documentaries, free film screenings, new media and partnerships with a variety of Utah organizations to amplify the voices of women and girls.