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A Question of Choice (Sheffield Film Co-op, 1982) features a small group of
low-paid women workers - two cleaners, a cook, a lollipop lady - and a male
caretaker in a school in Walkley, Sheffield. The participants describe the
limited employment choices available to women when family remains their first
priority. While the work they do is hard and poorly paid, it does offer them
flexibility, with hours that fit in with their family lives, as well as
affording them close contact with the community and their children's education.
Beyond the work that they do in the school, these women run activities at a
local community centre and organise events for children in the local area.
The male caretaker's comments about the way the women work, and the
conditions under which they work, highlight the disparity between their roles
and the continued assumption that women are prepared to do this kind of work and
are better suited to it. The fact that the women find it hard to attend union
meetings and are therefore reliant on him for maintaining good working
conditions means they are trapped in a closed situation.
Displaying some optimism about the way the women successfully organise
community activities and support one another, the film raises particular
questions that other women viewing the film might recognise in their own lives,
with the aim of provoking discussion.
The film was shot without sound, and recorded interviews were added to
accompany images of the women at work. This gives it a more personal, reflective
feel, and the intimacy of the still photography sequences highlights the
difference between the women's domestic lives, their relationships with their
children and their working lives. However, the women appear always to be
cleaning, and we never see their husbands.
Emma Hedditch
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Complete film (17:42)
