• LAUNCH YOUR DREAM
  • BE A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
  • STARTING OVER MIDLIFE
  • HAPPINESS THROUGH ACTIVISM
  • TRAVEL THE WORLD
  • GET HEALTHY & FIT
  • BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE
  • BRAVE LIVING
  • WRITE WITH US

8WomenDream

Dream Big Stories

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • CONNECT
You Are Here Home » HAPPINESS THROUGH ACTIVISM » What It Means to Be A Modern Woman Living Your Dreams

in HAPPINESS THROUGH ACTIVISM

What It Means to Be A Modern Woman Living Your Dreams

What does it mean to be a modern woman? Award-winning documentary film-maker Jennifer Fox took this question on the road, traveling the globe and interviewing women who are contending with relationships, families or the desire for one, and questions of identity while in pursuit of their dreams.

Her latest documentary film, Flying: Confessions of A Free Woman, airs on public television in two parts, on March 17 and 24 at 8 p.m. The film follows Jennifer Fox’s personal journey around the globe to discover what it means to be a woman today.

While juggling her career and multi-partner love life, Jennifer Fox finds herself in a crisis over who she is as a woman. Flying: Confessions of A Free Woman utilizes a unique technique of “passing the camera” to capture intimate conversation amongst women, and addresses issues for women that cut aross race, class and nationality.

I recently spoke to Jennifer about how she came to live her dream of being a film-maker, and about what this film means to her.

Modern Woman Image of Duska

LPG: How did you come to be a film-maker? Was it something that you always wanted to do?

Jennifer Fox: I grew up at a very weird moment in history. I was born in 1959. On the home front, my mother was a 50s mom, yet I grew up during the 1960s and 1970s, with everything being torn apart.

My dad was super progressive and taught me that “girls can do everything that boys can do.” They were tough working people, and they really encouraged me to explore, and to figure out what I wanted to do.

I was an exchange student in Israel when I was 15. I always knew I wanted to travel, and thought I wanted to write, or be a lawyer.

My parents taught me that I have to give back to humanity. I had two legal internships while still in high school, and decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer.

In college, I majored in international relations until I discovered it was all economics. I quickly switched to writing and thought I will write and I’ll travel. That turned out not to be satisfying.

I found film in my second year of college. I transferred to NYU from Hopkins and suddenly I found what fit.

I was 19 years old, and film fit me like a glove. I was studying fiction. One of the women I was working with on a fiction film was older than me. She left to go back to Lebanon to get her family out.

I dropped out of film school to make a film about her family in the Lebanese war. I was 21.

I really think that by the time I got to film school I had most of the real skills I needed – the cornerstone of being able to do the work.

In 1986, the film won at Sundance. It took a long time to achieve that.

But I never was told I couldn’t do something because I was a girl. And [my parents] really supported my creativity when I was growing up. I remember when I was 10 or 11 years old, working on projects for school. Sometimes I would stay up all night, and my mom would wake up at 3 a.m. and give me cookies and milk.

Modern Woman flying second pic of three generations

LPG: Tell me more about this film. Where did you get the impetus to create Flying?

Jennifer Fox: Things gestate for a long period [for me]. I was working on another big series that I made called American Love Story.

I was in my 30s and had very rarely been single. I was in a series of romantic relationships.

I began to notice that [in my life] the men changed but the women stayed the same.  I was having these amazing conversations with my [female] friends who lived all over the world.

The way I was speaking to women was so different from my conversations with men. These conversations kind of helped to hold my life together. They were not solution-oriented, and had a circular quality to them. It was more about sharing, listening and reflecting.

I realized that it was WOMEN holding my life together, not the men.  This was a huge revelation for me.  A huge reframe.

Here I had discovered that I thought I was this free woman, and yet I had this secret underlying feeling that without marriage and children I was somehow not complete.

That combined with a theme I’ve been working on – these two ideas began to work together in a film.

I wanted to do a film about two things: What does it mean to be a modern woman? And is there something different about women and men? Is there a female language?

That became Flying…

Flying is my walking backwards towards being a woman, placing myself in the picture of sisterhood. It is my exploration of “what is this thing called FREEDOM,” and am I really FREE, which of course I am not…

Nobody’s free. Nobody can be free. It’s almost an impossible journey. But we’re all on the journey towards freedom…

I discovered [at the end of a relationship] how unfree I was. I was this modern woman who inside had a very pathetic 1950s kind of shackle.

LPG: Are there any political causes you would like your viewers to be more aware of?

Jennifer Fox: Violence against women. It’s a big catch-all phrase. It’s right that girls have to be more afraid than boys [because of the state of the world today]. In a lot of ways as a kid I put my head in the sand to be able to do what I wanted.

You find violence everywhere, from upper-class to lower-class, so far beyond class and culture. It’s been a reality of my life. I have paid for my freedom dearly, and I am scarred partially from that.

Yet I accept that. I’d rather be scarred than live in a cage.

Despite it being 2013, the misogyny is everywhere…

Stayed tuned for more from Jennifer Fox in next week’s post!

And don’t miss out on part one of Flying, airing on public television on March 17th!

Related Stories:

  • American Dream Living Means Making the Most of Seasonal Eating
    American Dream Living Means Making the Most of…
  • Why Half Assing It Means You Picked The Wrong Dream
    Why Half Assing It Means You Picked The Wrong Dream
  • karen Bernod soul pioneer
    Thankful Thursday Means Being Grateful for Soul Pioneers
  • What Freedom Means To Me
    What Freedom Means To Me
Lisa Powell-Graham
Lisa Graham

Lisa P. Graham is an inspirational writer, life coach, TED motivational speaker, and globe-trotter whose passion is to help others to find happiness and meaning in their daily lives. A political activist at heart, Lisa would like to empower more women to run for political office as a way to create positive change in the world. You can find her on her website or watch her TEDx speech on YouTube.

Note: Articles by Lisa may contain affiliate links and may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link.

Filed Under: HAPPINESS THROUGH ACTIVISM

Some of the posts on 8WD contain affiliate links or links to purchase products or programs from 8WD contributors. This means 8WD or the contributor may make a small commission if you make a purchase. The 8WD affiliate links help offset the cost of hosting this website and the contributor links help support the dreams of the contributor. Please check out the 8WD Legal Page for more details.

Thank you for your continued support!

« Women’s History Month: Dream Inspiration from Top Women in Triathlon
Learning to Say Yes to Your Big Dream »

Check it out

  • LAUNCH YOUR DREAM
  • BE A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
  • STARTING OVER MIDLIFE
  • HAPPINESS THROUGH ACTIVISM
  • TRAVEL THE WORLD
  • GET HEALTHY & FIT
  • BUILD SELF-CONFIDENCE
  • BRAVE LIVING
  • WRITE WITH US


The 8WomenDream Dream Tote Bag

About the 8WomenDream Tote Bag
US – 10oz Cotton
Dimensions (External Dimensions)
• Height – 18″ (45.72cm or 457.2mm)
• Width – 15″ (38.1cm or 381mm)
Handle Dimensions (Internal Dimensions)
• Length – 29″ (73.7cm or 736.6mm)

Recent Dream Stories

  • 8 Solstice Traditions for Focusing on Your Big Dream this Year
  • Winter Solstice: What Will You Do With 1 Minute More?
  • Why Halloween Costumes Can Help Discover Your Big Dream
  • How the Equinox Can be a Catalyst for Change
  • 5 Strategies to Live Your Wildest Dreams
  • Starting Over as a Single Mom Wasn’t My Big Dream
  • Warning: Big Dream to Be a Motivational Speaker Won’t Always Obey Your Plans
  • Dance to Relieve Stress to Focus on Your Big Dream

Inspiration

More About 8WD

WE BELIEVE EVERYONE HAS THE POWER TO ACHIEVE BIG DREAMS.
 
IT IS OUR SINCEREST WISH THROUGH THE SHARING OF PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE TO TRY TO ACHIEVE A BIG DREAM THAT WE WILL INSPIRE YOU GO AFTER A BIG DREAM TOO.
 
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT 8WOMENDREAM, HERE.

8 WOMEN DREAM | COPYRIGHT All RIGHTS RESERVED © 2025 · LEGAL

Welcome to 8WomenDream Where Big Dreams Are Shared
The 8WomenDream website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're OK with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT REJECT READ MORE
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT