The Los Angeles Woman’s Building was born out of a void, a vision … an urgency. It became a cultural icon while remaining largely invisible to the broader public throughout much of its meteoric history. Although several of its artists achieved national and international recognition—including Lily Tomlin, Judy Chicago, Rachel Rosenthal, and Barbara Smith—the ephemeral nature of their performance-based activism made it difficult to legitimize outside the art world, and even within it, where performance art continues to struggle for full recognition as a significant artistic form. Much as women themselves were still widely regarded as second-class citizens during the Woman’s Building era, women artists were often treated as marginal figures—if they were acknowledged at all—by the male-dominated art establishment.
But Cheri Gaulke’s compelling film, Acting Like Women, challenges any notion that either the Woman’s Building—or the performance art produced there during the 1970s and ’80s—might fade into history. Gaulke was an active and vibrant participant in the community, teaching as part of the educational program known as the Feminist Art Studio, creating several performances of her own, many in collaboration with other artists—something the women often embraced more readily than their male counterparts. She also serves as the film’s narrator and central thread.
“Although it’s not something I wanted to do—I didn’t want to make this about me,” Gaulke shared during the Q&A following Sunday’s screening. “Each artist featured here is worthy of a full film devoted to her career and work.”
In fact, the film will leave viewers across generations and genders wanting to know more about these artists, this movement, and this pivotal period in art history. Its relevance feels especially acute today, when both activism and creative, out-of-the-box thinking are essential to meeting the challenges of the moment. Acting Like Women chronicles the women’s art movement that emerged alongside the Civil Rights Movement, Latino activism, and the early LGBTQ rights movement, at a time when opportunities and expectations for women remained markedly different from those for men. “Girls just don’t do that,” says Lily Tomlin in one of the film’s many interviews. Tomlin, who helped raise funds for the Woman’s Building through performances there, also serves as executive producer of the documentary, along with her creative and life partner, Jane Wagner.
But like any movement, the Woman’s Building was fraught with its own tensions. It was a messy experiment in creating a different, more egalitarian and creative world while simultaneously inventing the structures needed to support that vision through open communication, radical honesty, and compassionate critique. The result was a body of intense, vulnerable, in-your-face work that addressed feminism, rape, self-empowerment, racism, and lesbian identity—sometimes performed in laundromats, kitchens, and diners, the traditional domains of women, and boldly announced through titles like Judy Chicago’s The Cock and Cunt Play.
They forced the conversation. They became media savvy. They controlled the message. And it pissed Jesse Helms off. He went after the NEA, igniting a battle over public funding for the arts.
But when the collective decided that dogs would be allowed in the educational program but not children, it exposed an elephant in the room: the intangible tension between heterosexual women and lesbians. More revealing, however, was what the debate uncovered among some heterosexual-identified women who were beginning to question where they themselves stood on that spectrum—a question many were asking during the sexual revolution of the era. At the same time, lesbians were able to live and affirm their identities openly within the community, creating an exchange that proved transformative for many of the women involved.
Acting Like Women is as entertaining as it is informative, with an abundance of material tightly and intelligently edited by Susan Metzger. Where archival footage was unavailable, scenes are recreated through playful digital animation that evokes paper cutouts brought to life. Combined with Miriam Cutler’s delightful original score, the result is a film that rewards multiple viewings. It is co-written by Gaulke with Anne Gauldin.
The documentary deserves recognition for its tender honesty, inclusive, nonjudgmental curation, and the courage to preserve and celebrate a vital chapter of cultural history. Museums, universities, and arts institutions are natural homes for this work and should consider bringing it to their audiences.
Presented during Frameline’s 50th anniversary celebration, Acting Like Women felt particularly at home. Congratulations to Frameline and to Ms. Gaulke on bringing this remarkable documentary to audiences. My only regret is that viewers were given just one opportunity to experience the film during the festival. It is the kind of documentary that lingers long after the credits roll and invites a second viewing.
David e. Moreno
