Meet Dorothy

Think of using Dorothy as sashaying down the yellow brick road. You may know your destination and can skip ahead (not necessarily wearing ruby slippers), you might seek directions along the way (not necessarily from anyone with straw for brains), or you could be looking for an adventure (not necessarily with flying monkeys).

Dorothy takes its name from icons, pioneers, and path blazers in film. How they're viewed will shift as our world does, but they will remain notable for their contributions to our conversations about gender, women, power, identity, perception, and film.

Dorothy Gale of Kansas longed to go home but resisted fear and eventually realized she had the power to get anywhere she wanted. No witch was going to stand in her way. Played by Judy Garland—another symbol of tenacity—she lived her technicolor dream in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

An editor for Blood and Sand (1922)—one of Rudolph Valentino's star-establishing films—and more than 50 others, Dorothy Arzner made her name as a director with The Wild Party (1929) featuring Clara Bow in Paramount's first talkie; Christopher Strong (1933) with Katharine Hepburn as a pilot; and Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) headlined by Lucille Ball and choreographed by Marion Morgan, Arzner's long-time partner. She inspired feminist and queer film criticism through her clarity of vision, skill behind the lens, attention to female characters that were complex and unconventional for the times, and ability to not just thrive in a male-dominated industry but lead and innovate. And her signature suits were snappy too.

An early transplant to what would become Hollywood, Dorothy Davenport Reid first focused on acting and took roles in more than 100 films including several by Cecil B. DeMille before 1920. After her matinee star husband died from drug abuse, she managed her film production company—one of the first women to do so—and branched out as a writer, director, and social authority who crafted narratives to push reforms or highlight issues including addiction, family violence, and suffrage.

In 1982 Tootsie offered a pivotal moment for interrogating gender when actor Michael Dorsey couldn't get a job and decided to audition as a woman. Dorothy Michaels as played by Dustin Hoffman is powerful, vulnerable, touching, dignified, and blunt as she challenges everyone to try on different roles and fight for what they want. More than 30 years later this depiction continues to provoke reassessments of our cultural constructs.

The unmistakable Dorothy Zbornak (it was the 1980s after all) from The Golden Girls was brought loudly to life by Bea Arthur, who already held groundbreaker status for portraying feminist Maude Findlay in her namesake TV series. Independent and outspoken, this Dorothy battled her mother—also her roommate—as she focused on her teaching career, navigated a postdivorce life, and always thanked the friends by her side.

If another Dorothy on screen has inspired you, nominate her for inclusion: gwsldorothy@library.wisc.edu.

Strategy

Dorothy got its start as Women's AudioVisuals in English (sometimes with a hyphen, sometimes not, but mainly called WAVE), a printed collection of English-language media in a broad sense: filmstrips, slide shows, audiocassettes, and early videos were included with industrial films, documentaries, and features. The first issue covered 1985–90 and was intended to be both comprehensive and timely. After the transition to an online database, the guiding collection criterion was to gather everything possible on film or on television by and about women. Regional television programs, YouTube videos, US congressional testimony, footage of global conferences, news reports from countries primarily in the Middle East and the global south, historical content, and film school theses joined the assortment.

Before long, trying to locate and document so much content had become impossible, ephemeral works had disappeared, and the information conveyed about topics such as health and laws was outdated—but of course still valuable for historical purposes. We needed a fresh start and a new method for gathering film, television, and streaming video content that would remain useful to a broad audience over time. We decided to archive the entirety of WAVE—more than 8800 records spanning 1915 to 2019—and selected entries from it will be incorporated into Dorothy.

Classic films and older productions will take up a small portion of the database, and most of the content will consist of films and television shows produced since 2010. International films, those directed by women, and subjects such as work and innovation, LGBTQ communities, survivors of violence, activism, and other key topics in gender and women's studies will be most prominent. Updates will occur often as we gradually expand this hand-picked collection.

If you would like records from the WAVE database or have questions about the collection strategy, please contact us: gwsldorothy@library.wisc.edu.

Contact Us

Dorothy is maintained by the Office of the Gender and Women's Studies Librarian
430 Memorial Library
728 State St.
Madison, WI 53706
gwsldorothy@library.wisc.edu