Mackenzie Wenner #5

Discuss the state of “women” or “womanhood” in at least two of the films we have seen so far. In reference to Anderson, where is “woman” in the formation of a nation?

If nations are formed as I described earlier– based on cultural, ancestral and belief based factors as well of course a practical and geographic ones, the role of women must be central. This is only underscored by the role of women in two of the films we have viewed thus far, “Who killed Vincent Chin” and “Black Girl”.

Across cultural borders throughout time and into the present mothers have served as the principal teachers of the world’s population. With most of human history having occurred in times devoid of formal schooling for the masses and many modern nations having been created in times and places where education as we conceive it is absent, cultural and ancestral education was taught to children in the home from female family members who were domestically occupied. Thus while the nation founding ideals that we can recall today such as the American sense of independence and the French “liberty equality and fraternity” were all delivered by men, I would argue they were first instilled by the women who raised them.

In the films we see a different way women play a role in the formation and continuity of nations. I will begin with “Black Girl”. The movie is set on the stage of the French colonization of parts of Africa. The friction this causes, however, is only shown through the actions of women. We see throughout the film the subjugation of Duanna entirely by the lady of the house. Her husband on the other hand remains rather neutral. After Duanna’s suicide, he attempts to make amends, but it is Duanna’s mother who does not accept his money. Through these actions we see the women expressing oppression and rebellion of nations.

In “Who killed Vincent Chin” Chin’s mother is, I believe, the most sympathetic and distressing person to watch because one can so easily imagine one’s own mother grieving in if in the same situation. It’s that pubic grieving that inspires everyone else in the community to unite, and in a way form a nation.