In the developing world women are the most influential to change. Historically women have been the catalyst for change, they are the most influential because they hold the most respect in their communities. Women are able to invoke the most change because historically they are held at such a high esteem in their communities, this can be seen most obviously in African communities. Women’s desire and determination has enabled them to make the most change in their communities. The woman of Liberia, are the most recognized and praised for their part in the removal of their Dictator Charles Taylor. Their attempt and success of the removal of Charles Taylor is documented in the documentary “Pray The Devil Back to Hell”. Their actions in this movement …show more content…
Although, it would seem that women would not be able to affect much change due to their “inferiority” in their government this documentary negates such a premise. I really enjoyed this film, it made me realize that although it seems as if some groups of people are unable to cause change, this documentary shows otherwise. The documentary really gives a voice to those who are tremendously overlooked in the international realm, women. I commend the women of Liberia for their fearlessness when going against Charles Taylor. I admire that they were able to still stand up to him with the knowledge that thy could be tremendously harmed by the rebels. It also opened up my eyes to the extent men will go to obtain some power within their government, that front a stance as if they are revolting against the head of state in the interest of the people they are actually only doing it for their own self-interest. I gained this realization during the documentary when it explained that the rebels told their men that as long as they took over the land they could do whatever they wanted, i.e. rape and murder the innocent. It was also nice to see the ways in which women can personally affect change, as in the women going on sex strikes. The idea of a sex strike is so fantastic and affective. Hearing about the atrocities being …show more content…
The documentary revolves around the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace and the actions they took that aided in the removal of dictator Charles Taylor. This documentary is a perfect example in showing how individuals that are not fairly represented can cause massive change through grassroot
Have you ever went to sleep and woke up, wanting to make a change? It might not be a big change, but it can be something that is beneficial to you and other people. Sometimes you might not know where to start, and it can be tough. We as human beings all have this mindset where we are scared of change. We are already comfortable and use to what’s there and changing it can be risky because we don’t know the outcomes. In the book entitled Abina and the Important Men, by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke is about a woman named Abina, who wakes up one morning and decides that she wants to change the way that women are portrayed in society. Although slaves in the 19th century were considered free, women had a more difficult time achieving freedom
As Kenyan mother once said, “My dreams don’t look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl” (nd). Jacqueline Novogratz, a modern philanthropist, understands this better than most. A typical American girl, she found herself in Africa, helping women with no voice in their world. She never planned for this growing up, but her leadership, determination, and new way of looking at the world was in her from the beginning.
Historically, Black Women’s issues have been displaced by those of both white women and of the African American community as a whole. From the moment Africans set foot on the shores of the “New World,” the brutality they experienced was not just racialized, but gendered. Both African men and women were stripped naked, shaved, chained, branded, and inspected then sold and forced to work in the fields, plowing and picking cotton until their backs ached and their fingers bled. They also saw their family members sold away. However, their experiences diverged when it came to gender.
White women like Hillary Clinton, who have advantageously indoctrinated themselves into a mechanism of politics that entails the continued suffering of other women, especially non-white women become martyrs for their own brand of feminism, neglecting to analyze other forms of oppression that may affect women, like imperialism, classism, and race. It is no accident that non-white women, and women who live in regions that are or have been occupied by the U.S. around the world, and those who face mass political or economic repression in the U.S. are rarely given platforms to speak about their issues. The complex and multi-faceted struggles of non-white women go unheard, and for a reason too. To allow women who do not fit the Western liberal or corporate feminist model of womanhood a platform forces those who legitimize unjust wars and perpetuate racism through policies to confront their own prejudices, and the systematic brutality their nations enacts on various global societies, as well as within its borders. It is easy to claim and fabricate reasons as to why the war on drugs and terror are beneficial policies that will eventually help the greater good; it is another to examine what other types of oppressions exists that afflict the lives of otherized areas, especially the women in these areas.
After watching this video, it became clear to be that my views on traditional masculine and feminine traits will be influenced. I understand the pressure that is put on both males and females to conform to society and the gender roles that accompany their culture. I will make a conscious effort to encourage males to act outside of the image they believe to be masculine. I will let them share their feelings and provide them with emotional support when they need it. I will also look at feminism differently. Before watching this video I believed that feminism was a good thing— now I believe that the idea of it is good but that is should change its objectives. I think that women should focus more on equality and less on the superiority of women. My thoughts regarding gender roles will be influenced after watching this movie.
Holloway’s experiences in Mali regarding childbirth and the difficulties of women shed light on the topic of ethical and moral issues in other countries. Prior to reading Holloway’s “Monique and the Mango Rains”, I had only heard about FGM and poverty in Mali. Transforming data and numbers into descriptions of people, Holloway reveals the faces and voices of the people of Mali.
On September 5, 1995, Hillary Clinton delivered an influential speech at The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Clinton expresses general concern over escalating violence toward women, in other word’s gendercide. “Gendercide refers to the systematic elimination of a specific gender group, normally female. It’s most common in India, China, and other regions in Southeast Asia” (GirlsKind Foundation). Crimes, such as bride trafficking, infanticide, abandonment, and dowry related murder; often take place within private households, going unnoticed and not even acknowledged. “Tragically, women are most often the ones whose human rights are violated. Even now, in the late 20th century, the rape of women continues to be used as an instrument of armed conflict Women and children make up a large majority of the world’s refugees” (Clinton 3). By addressing her speech in Beijing, where gendercide is prevalent, Hillary expressed her objective effectively not just the United Nations, but to audiences across the world. Clinton effectively delivered her speech by portraying her purpose for women to achieve equality and better opportunities, with ethical appeals, emotional appeals, and logical appeals.
For centuries, educated and talented women were restricted to household and motherhood. It was only after a century of dissatisfaction and turmoil that women got access to freedom and equality. In the early 1960’s, women of diverse backgrounds dedicated tremendous efforts to the political movements of the country, which includes the Civil Rights movement, anti-poverty, Black power and many others (Hayden & King, 1965). The Africa...
When I first read “We Are Ugly, But We Are Here,” I was stunned to learn how women in Haiti were treated. Edwige Danticat, who was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1969 and immigrated to Brooklyn when she was twelve years old, writes about her experiences in Haiti and about the lives of her ancestors that she links to her own. Her specific purpose is to discuss what all these families went through, especially the women, in order to offer the next generation a voice and a future. Danticat writes vividly about events that occurred in Haiti, leading up to an assertion about the strength of Haitian women. Her essay is powerful in large part because of how she manages tone.
Within gender and sexuality women have proven historically and culturally that we can make a difference and control our role. Women are underestimated and have the potential to be even greater/more valuable than the treatment received, although there were times when that was yet to be the case. As an example, in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the setting is Umuofia a village in Nigeria Africa, males are seen as the dominant gender and can be abusive towards their wives. The women can not participate in 'male ' activities or jobs yet the chief and earth goddesses are women and strongly respected and feared by everybody. Contradicting the story itself, because the villagers respect their goddess, yet the villages presented are male based
Liberia, located in the west part of Africa, was a settlement to native Africans in the 1800’s would eventually stablish a settlement consisting of thousands of individuals, freed or non-slaves. This was an attempt of resolving the moral issue of enslavement by colonizing Liberia with freed, or ex-slaves. Not only were freed black men transported across the Atlantic, but women as well. No provisions had been made to ensure equality as a foundation to colonize which causes the issues misogyny and with the lack of historical content of women in Liberia the need for further analysis it is noted that women were hardly acknowledged and only seen as an object in creating a bigger population needed
Neville, H. A., & Hamer, J. F. (2006). Revolutionary Black Women's Activism: Experience and Transformation. Black Scholar, 36(1), 2-11.
The “Politics” section, from the UN’s 2008 report of the progress of the world’s women, discusses in detail how women’s roles in government and politics in general have expanded and can continue to expand. Moreover, it also explores different challenges and obstacles women may encounter when it comes to politics, and how these obstacles can be overcome. In discussing these issues, the author describes a “cycle of political accountability”. This so called cycle is a process by which women’s engagement in politics results in a positive “feedback loop” whereby a more gender-balanced political system may arise. According to the report, there are five stages: mobilization, representation, legislation & policy, implementation, and transforming politics. Of course, the cycle can also go backwards leading to the loss of rights for women.
We must also understand the exclusion of gender from revolutionary discourses as being part of patriarchy that is not challenged in certain revolutions. The exclusion of gender equality from what Lumumba struggled for is where there is a certain patriarchy, and this kind of patriarchy is evident in almost all revolutionary anti-colonial writing.
Devil on the Cross is a novel written by Ngugi Wa Thiongo in attempt to talk to all Kenyans battling neo-colonialism. Being politically independent, but economically dependent on other countries has evidently had a huge toll on Kenya and its citizens. Kenya is a land where nothing is free. Foreigners had made their way into occupying the land and have used it as a mean of profit for them and a few citizens in Kenya. Through the use of six different characters, Devil on the Cross manages to depict the struggles experienced within the cities of Kenya. The characters of Wariinga, Robin Mwaura, Wangari, Muturi, Gatuiria, and the man in the dark glasses show different experiences of Kenya’s neo-colonialism occurrences.