Blog 5 - Tatiana Bull

          Benedict Anderson describes the wives of reading class as "servant girded" during the 1840s.  Usually during this time, if a woman was poor she would most likely work in domestic service, in a factory, as a governess, or as a maid.  She would work hard for long hours at a time.  A lot of men during this time did not earn enough to support a wife.  We can see the similarities in Anderson's book and La Noire De.  Diouana came from a poor and impoverished family who was given the opportunity to work for a wealthy french family as a governess in Dakar.  But when they moved to a new place, the couple treated her as a house servant, not as the governess she once was back in Dakar.  She is told to cook, clean and serve as an object of fascination byt the couples' vistors.  The female employer however does nothing.  She does not do anything that falls under "what is expected of a woman" during this time... she kind of just sits there. In fact, I don't even know if she has a job So we don't really see any gender bias in this movie, just racism.  However, Diouana still dresses royaly, while doing her chores in attempt to retain some glimmer of hope that she and her female employee will go out and shop.
         It's kind of hard for me to choose another movie that displays womanhood, because I did not really see any of the other movies talk about it or have anything to really do with it.  I noticed a lot of people talking about the sketch with the lady and the egg.  They say that this symbolizes womanhood, but I really took it as symbolism for the future of black America.  But if I had to choose someone who represented a woman well, it would be Vincent Chin's mom. Throughout the whole movie she did not back down and she continued to fight for justice. I think she is a strong woman and an outstanding mother.  Much like any mother, she sought out the best for her son, so she brought him to America. She is a loving and caring mother and she did the best she could for her son.