What is it to be a woman? By Tamara Middleton

So far we have seen various women who are empowered in different ways. In Twilight, Anna Deavere Smith was very vocal using the power of voice and theatrical talent to convey a very powerful message. I think it takes a very strong woman to accomplish what Smith did, she allowed herself to be a vessel for so many stories and convey the experience of the L.A. riots.

In Black Girl, we see Duoina who is empowered in a completely different way. She doesn't speak. As we have discussed in class Duoina is a subaltern, but I would disagree with the consensus in class and say that she is able to speak. Throughout the entire movie she doesn't speak vocally to the other characters she only narrates for the audience. However through this action she masters the proverb that “actions speak louder than words”. In this film Duoina has enough with being enslaved by the family that she was supposed to be working for. In the end of the movie she slits her throat in the bathtub. I feel that by doing so she sends the message that she cannot be bought, and I believe that the family understands that message at the end of the movie.

Lastly we have, Mrs. Chin in Who Killed Vincent Chin. She is vocal but not as vocal as smith and not as silent as Duoina. Mrs. Chin is empowered because she has the ability to use her emotion to sway her audience and relay her message. I think it is very difficult to be so vulnerable in front of so many people, but Mrs. Chin does whatever she feels will bring justice to her son.

These women are completely different but that is not to say that one is stronger than the other. They are all empowered and they have all touched us in the classroom. I believed that what it means to be a woman is very complex and broad. There is a breath of ways to be a part of womanhood.