The State of Woman and Womanhood by Matt Antezana

The state of women and womanhood is a central theme in  Ousmane Sembene's film "La Noire De," which translates to Black Girl. In the film a Senegalese woman named Diouana from the village Dakar moves to Antibes, France to work for an affluent couple. Things take a turn for the worse for Diouana who commits suicide by the end of the film because of the hopelessness caused by the harsh and slave like treatment coming from the couple. Throughout the film Diouana performs tasks that are stereotypically associated with women instead of men. She performed various house chores and this creates the image of the stay at home wife. This image has led to several negative beliefs, such as that women should stay at home and care for the family, that have plagued the womanhood and equal rights for women. This portrayal of woman in film is detrimental to the desire of women to have a role in society outside that of the housewife. The film also presents Diouana as a submissive figure who must obey all of the commands of her employer. This fits into the gender stereotype that women should assume a submissive role. The portrayal of womanhood in "Black Girl" puts woman back into the stay at home role that has plagued them for generations and that continues to plague them even as Women have greater opportunities in society.

While watching "The Colored Museum" I realized that aside from a various issues relating to race, the role of the woman was also a key issue. The particular scene that centered around womanhood is the scene in which the young African American woman gives birth to a giant egg. This scene displays one of the most prominent roles that women are known for, that of being a mother. The role of being a mother has long been associated with being one of the most important aspects of being a women and has even been used as a way to put women down in the past by some who believe that it should be their only role. Also the circumstances surrounding the woman entrance to motherhood can also be viewed as negative or positive by different societies, in our society specifically believe have negative beliefs towards women who have children at a young age. In the scene the woman is obviously young and appears to be foolish to the audience especially in terms of the circumstances surrounding her pregnancy. She fits into the typical young teenage/adult mother who became a mother because of her carelessness. However she is also displayed as being highly protective of the giant egg thus assuming the natural motherly tendencies.

While woman and womanhood have played major roles in "Black Girl" and "The Colored Museum," so far in Imagined Communities women have not played any specific essential roles. However this does not mean that they play no role in the formation of a nation. In his book Benedict Anderson does not specifically state that his theory only applies to men but instead it applies to all of humanity as a whole. He writes "Human lives are full of such combinations of necessity and chance. We are all aware of the contingency and ineluctability of our particular genetic heritage, our gender" (Anderson, 10). Anderson is informing the reader that he is well aware of the various factors such as gender that affect our lives in the community. Anderson's theory applies to all humans regardless of gender because they are still able to form communities based on nationalistic values and at various times he refers to inhabitants of communities not by a particular gender but as "members".