The Ascent of Woman

The Ascent of Woman (2015)

EndedDocumentary showHistory

Dr Amanda Foreman uncovers stories of women that have made and changed human history from 10,000 BC to the present day.

Network
Scheduleevery Wednesday at 21:00 (60 min)

Last Episode

Revolution
Season 1Episode 460 min

Revolution

In this final film, Dr Amanda Foreman looks at the role of women in revolutions that have transformed the modern world, from political uprisings to reproductive rights. Amanda discovers, through women like campaigner and writer Olympe De Gouges, that the French Revolution's promise of equality, liberty and brotherhood would be limited to men. Bolshevik radical Alexandra Kollontai would find that while her fellow Russian revolutionaries may have put women's rights at the forefront of ideological change, the post-revolutionary world would be as rife with gender bias as the societies they'd helped transform.

In the end, revolutionary change for women would come from within the private sphere - in America, with activists like Margaret Sanger, who coined the term birth control and developed the pill which would finally give women control over when to have children. Amanda discusses the experiences of women in contemporary uprisings - in what's been called the Arab spring, when women defied cultural and political traditions, marched into public squares and called for change, only to find that once they demanded rights for women, they were denied them. Amanda discusses the growth of grass roots women's movements in Africa, like those in Liberia and Malawi, and interviews African women involved in democratic politics - Lindiwe Mazibuko, the South African leader of the opposition and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, executive director of UN Women. Amanda finishes the series with a bold statement - she believes the most critical issue of the 21st century is to address the inclusion of women, to break from the past and create a new model for social revolution - one of gender equality.

sept. 23, 2015

Recent Episodes

EpisodeNameAirdate
S01E04Revolutionsept. 23, 2015
S01E03Powersept. 16, 2015
S01E02Separationsept. 9, 2015
S01E01Civilisationsept. 2, 2015
View all episodesView all seasons

Cast

View all cast

Characters

View all characters

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Jeopardy!
Running

Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! is a classic game show -- with a twist. The answers are given first, and the contestants supply the questions. Three contestants, including the previous show's champion, compete in six categories and in three rounds (with each round's "answers" being worth more prize money).

Emmerdale
Running

Emmerdale

Emmerdale is a British soap focusing on the lives of several families and locals living around an estate, a farm and the nearby village in the Yorkshire Dales. It is the second longest British soap in television history since airing its first episode on ITV in 1972, as 'Emmerdale Farm', the show was renamed in 1989.

GenreDrama
Doc
Running

Doc

Doc centers on the hard-charging, brilliant Dr. Amy Larsen, Chief of Internal and Family Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis. After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she's treated, colleagues she's crossed, the soulmate she divorced, the man she now loves and the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine, despite having lost nearly a decade of knowledge and experience.

Boston Blue
Running

Boston Blue

In Boston Blue, NYPD Detective Danny Reagan takes a position with Boston PD. Once in Boston, he is paired with Detective Lena Silver, the eldest daughter of a prominent law enforcement family.

GenreDrama, Crime
The Pitt
Running

The Pitt

The Pitt is a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today's America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Each episode follows an hour of Dr. Robby's 15-hour shift as the chief attendant in Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital's emergency room.