What’s Your Point, Honey?

Initially you might believe that the lives of the women and girls introduced in What’s Your Point, Honey? will intersect in some intimate way. The opening scenes seem to insinuate a touching tale itching to unfold—and it does, but not in the way you might expect.

A triad of 10-year-old girls who are brilliant beyond their years are shown asking pedestrians if they’d vote a woman into the oval office and why America hasn’t been able to already. Seven idealistic college students are portrayed first as strong members of their own communities then as enthusiastic interns with COSMOgirl!’s White House Project on a mission to facilitate a woman becoming president by the year 2024. Teams of successful women tell of their perceptions of what they once believed they were allowed to do, and how they feel about it now knowing what they’ve accomplished.

While the eighty-seven-minute long film relies more heavily on observation than statistics, it still weaves a compelling account of how equal men and women really are, especially where politics, pay, and family are considered. Although the viewer never sees the physical lives of these women intertwine, there is something to be said for the foundation they all strive to build for each other.

Encouraging examples of these women’s effort to achieve a common goal line up over the hour and a half. One twenty-something intern works to pass a law that might end sex trafficking; the gaggle of young girls challenge their impressionable peers to answer the question that established women have been trying to solve for decades before: why haven’t we had a woman president?

“What I’m worried about with the presidency right now,” Mary C. Wilson (President and founder of The White House Project) intimates, “is that we’re looking for the perfect girl [and] perfection is something a lot of us have had to try to get away from.” Wilson’s point borders on terrifying as a Victoria’s Secret mannequin monopolizes the next frame. Two teenage girls are shopping to emulate the hard, plastic figures that surround them. The girls eye thongs, sample lip gloss, look in the mirror holding up tiny tube tops. This not-so-subtle sequence of images makes it painfully clear why COSMOgirl! and The White House Project are so perfect for each other. This is where girls are becoming women, and deciding what their priorities are.

There are moments in the film when I think COSMOgirl! must be thrilled that people have heard the brand name an extraordinary number of times. Yet, in the film’s defense, it’s not without scenes inspiring viewers to take action, or even drawing an uncomfortable lump into one’s throat. Even after three times through, I’m still happy to sit friends down in front of the film.

This film is for women who haven’t felt inspired to act on their own behalf because, well, in some circles women still have yet to arrive, and What’s Your Point, Honey? reminds us that is not okay.

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