Real life examples of gender inequality do sort of hamper the hopes of those wishing for better in the near future, as it will take a while for the pay gap between men and women to be closed and gender norms will be even harder to break; nonetheless, the three main films being discussed in this paper do give people a bit of hope that women may transcend their limits in due time. Indeed, some already are doing this. In Flame, the titular character takes the initiative on things, such as joining the army. While she is on the same level as men and is even acknowledged towards the end of the film, she does go into war largely for the purpose of finding a man. Her friend Liberty, also known as Nyasha, even criticizes Flame early on in the film for
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Women and children have nothing to do with it.” Also, a documentary titled Pray the Devil Back to Hell shows a social worker named Leymah Gbowee that calls for the “Christian Women Peace Initiative”. Meanwhile, Liberian men that oppose President Taylor are shown marching with guns that they plan to use to overthrow their government. Nacro shows in her film The Night of Truth that women are not always so passive. One of the women portrayed as more assertive in Nacro’s film is Soumari, and she is shown to be a voice for peace in the film, according to Janice Spleth in her article titled “Making room for women in the last chapter of the war story: Fanta Régina Nacro’s La Nuit de la vérité/The Night of Truth” (222). The mere fact that she has a voice alone makes her different than the run of the mill African woman. On top of that, Soumari does not only push women to be peaceful, but also urges the men to be. Another woman in the film that does not conform to the gender roles, specifically of men being violent and women being peaceful, is the president’s wife named Edna. She harbors hatred towards Colonel Theo for killing her son and she eventually kills him for it. While her unwillingness to coexist with her enemies does result in more violence, it could be looked admirable that Edna was able to firmly separate herself from the enemy. She even tries to get her husband to see the …show more content…
Teresa Barnes, in her article titled “Flame and the historiography of armed struggle in Zimbabwe”, explains that daughters, mothers, and wives would take in the guerrillas and treat them with hospitality (248-249). Often times, this would entail giving them a place to sleep, feeding them, or having sex with the soldiers (249). They did it for the cause of stopping racial oppression. Barnes quotes a woman in Tears of the Dead and the woman explains that the women who took care of men would often times face the opposing side’s soldiers all alone (250). It takes undeniable courage as well as extreme care for anybody to do such a thing. Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood is another film watched for class that shows how important women can be. Although the film does not have a war setting, the titular character in Tsotsi is not able to care for the child he accidentally kidnaps. So the young man relies on a woman he finds named Mariam to breastfeed the infant. Of course, Tsotsi forcing Mariam to feed the infant by gunpoint relates to how women in times of war are often forced to sexually please men. Some men go as far to rape women in order to satisfy their
Women and children have nothing to do with it.” Also, a documentary titled Pray the Devil Back to Hell shows a social worker named Leymah Gbowee that calls for the “Christian Women Peace Initiative”. Meanwhile, Liberian men that oppose President Taylor are shown marching with guns that they plan to use to overthrow their government. Nacro shows in her film The Night of Truth that women are not always so passive. One of the women portrayed as more assertive in Nacro’s film is Soumari, and she is shown to be a voice for peace in the film, according to Janice Spleth in her article titled “Making room for women in the last chapter of the war story: Fanta Régina Nacro’s La Nuit de la vérité/The Night of Truth” (222). The mere fact that she has a voice alone makes her different than the run of the mill African woman. On top of that, Soumari does not only push women to be peaceful, but also urges the men to be. Another woman in the film that does not conform to the gender roles, specifically of men being violent and women being peaceful, is the president’s wife named Edna. She harbors hatred towards Colonel Theo for killing her son and she eventually kills him for it. While her unwillingness to coexist with her enemies does result in more violence, it could be looked admirable that Edna was able to firmly separate herself from the enemy. She even tries to get her husband to see the …show more content…
Teresa Barnes, in her article titled “Flame and the historiography of armed struggle in Zimbabwe”, explains that daughters, mothers, and wives would take in the guerrillas and treat them with hospitality (248-249). Often times, this would entail giving them a place to sleep, feeding them, or having sex with the soldiers (249). They did it for the cause of stopping racial oppression. Barnes quotes a woman in Tears of the Dead and the woman explains that the women who took care of men would often times face the opposing side’s soldiers all alone (250). It takes undeniable courage as well as extreme care for anybody to do such a thing. Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood is another film watched for class that shows how important women can be. Although the film does not have a war setting, the titular character in Tsotsi is not able to care for the child he accidentally kidnaps. So the young man relies on a woman he finds named Mariam to breastfeed the infant. Of course, Tsotsi forcing Mariam to feed the infant by gunpoint relates to how women in times of war are often forced to sexually please men. Some men go as far to rape women in order to satisfy their