Jennifer Baumgardner  

Jennifer Baumgardener is is a writer, activist, filmmaker, and lecturer whose work explores abortion, sex, bisexuality, rape, single parenthood, and women’s power. She attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, graduating in 1992. While at Lawrence, she helped organize an anti-war "Guerrilla Theater," led a feminist group on campus, and co-founded an alternative newspaper called The Other that focused on intersectional issues of liberation. She moved to New York City after graduation and in 1993 began working as an unpaid intern for Ms. magazine. By 1997, she had become the youngest editor at Ms.

She has since written for numerous magazines, including Glamour, The Nation, Babble, More, and Maxim. Her books include "Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future, Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism" written with Amy Richards, and "Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics." In 2004, she produced the documentary film I HAD AN ABORTION, which tells the story of ten women’s abortion experiences from the 1920s to the present. Baumgardner’s work has been featured on shows from The Oprah Winfrey Show to NPR's Talk of the Nation, as well as in the New York Times, BBC News Hour, Bitch, and various other venues. She has keynoted at more than 250 universities and, in 2003, the Commonwealth Club of California hailed her in their centennial year as one of six "Visionaries for the 21st Century." From 2013 to 2017, she served as the Executive Director/Publisher at The Feminist Press at the City University of New York (CUNY), a feminist institution founded by Florence Howe in 1970. (01/20)

Available Title(s):


It Was Rape


A film by Jennifer Baumgardner, 2013, 60 min, Color

U.S. sexual assault statistics are startling—and have remained unchanged for decades. The latest White House Council on Women and Girls report reveals that nearly one in five women experiences rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. Among college student victims, who have some of the highest rates of sexual assault, just 12 percent report incidents…

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I Had an Abortion


A film by Jennifer Baumgardner, 2005, 55 min, Color

Underneath the din of politicians posturing about "life" and "choice" and beyond the shouted slogans about murder and rights, there are real stories of real women who have had abortions. Each year in the US, 1.3 million abortions occur, but the topic is still so stigmatized it’s never discussed in polite company. Powerful, poignant, and…

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