Ultimately, watching The World Before Her was disheartening. For the women putting all of their hopes and aspirations into becoming Miss India, even before the winners were announced, I was sad. The only thing that kept playing in my mind was the statement “They can’t all win.” Yet they all believed they would win. I don’t want to say that they each had a false sense of reality, maybe that’s the only way to remain confident in a time like this. But the film made it clear how much winning this title meant to each of the women, and because the majority of them were going to lose, I couldn’t help but feel sad. Some of them did it to create an identity, a “personality” for themselves, but in the process lost their dignity. In the scene where they each had to use bags to cover their heads and bodies for the purpose of only seeing their legs, I expected at least one of them to give it up and say that she could no longer disrespect herself or her values, but clearly that was absurd. And for the Hindu Fundamentalists who receive their identity and their culture from their parents, they also pass over the chance to create their own identity. They spend their whole lives living for India and preparing to kill because of the threat of Westernization. I don’t recall the name of the woman who spoke to the idea of trading more than just products with different nations, but she had a good point. In a World that’s developing so rapidly, we’re also trading ways of living. “Just because an American takes up Yoga doesn’t mean that they’re becoming Indian, just as an Indian who wears jeans and a tank top isn’t becoming an American.”

On a more relevant note, for tomorrow’s brief discussion, I thought it might be beneficial to post the questions I’m thinking of asking to get our minds going.

1.) What’s left after the uncoding of the woman’s body?

2.) The article makes it clear that women don’t have the means to represent lack, although both men and women represent lack in some way. So my question is, how do you think the woman’s body can provide access to the process of representation? Even though this has been deemed “impossible.”

Hi everyone,

This post is in reference to a book I’m reading outside of class. It’s titled For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home.  Although the title is concerning, it provides the experiences of many young men who have dealt with the issues listed above. Of course, the topic of masculinity has been discussed. One of the young men in the book describes masculinity as “the ability to simultaneously arouse and terrify, to meld brutality and fear with beauty and sensuality, inhabiting the roles of father, hero, lover, and disciplinarian.” I particularly like this description and was wondering if anyone else felt some type of way about it. I don’t think it’s limiting in its description, and I also believe it may be accurate. Does anyone see any problems with it? Or agrees?

I began pondering the idea of child birth being sexualized today in class after we viewed Baby Moving. Because I didn’t perceive any of the scenes as being sexual, I was curious as to how it could be.   Tati mentioned that the cuts between the expecting mother’s vagina and her facial expressions is what suggests that the scene is sexual.

I believe it comes down to the way we each read a film. Some insert themselves into the actual scene as if they’re witnessing it first-hand, while others view the scene objectively. I interpreted each cut as an addition to the larger moment that’s taking place (child-birth). I never felt as though I was hovering over the woman’s face as if my eyes were the camera lens, but I was viewing each scene separately to understand the director’s perspective/interpretation as a whole. The sunlight coming through the window shining on the woman’s face and body, her smile and laughter, the way she’s being kissed on, all illustrated nothing more than beauty to me, to represent the idea that child-birth is beautiful, even with the not-so visually pleasing parts. I think the absence of sound is especially important for this analysis because we understand that there’s an extraordinary amount of pain that goes with having a baby. The sound of the woman screaming would have detracted from the moments we’re viewing on screen.

I have very similar thoughts regarding the endings of both Where Should the Birds Fly and Boys Don’t Cry. I appreciate both films and their endings as they each illuminate the circumstances and stories that many people live and have lived. As Fida Qishta said, it is important to tell these stories for the people who cannot tell it themselves. As these stories are told, more hearts are touched so that the people who are represented in these stories have a moment where their voices are heard, and a chance for change is created. It becomes up to the audience to internalize the messages that have been shared in these stories to make a difference for the future, because these problems and injustices will persist until these voices are heard.  I believe many of the injustices that people face will be adopted into the generations to come unless their is a change in the way we think about ourselves and each other (not us as a class, but us as a whole). For me specifically, one of the  messages that stuck with me and inspired me to look into the issue further from Where Should the Birds Fly is that war leaves some people feeling as though the rest of the world has forgotten about them. I’m sorry that this is such an abrupt ending.

I enjoy the discussions and comments that have taken place regarding post-feminism, gender roles, masculinity and femininity. It’s reassuring to see that other people share my views on these issues. (I have this thought after reading Boys Don’t Cry). With regard to post feminism specifically, I believe it’s the role of anyone who can look past the limitations and roles that are instituted in patriarchal society, and live against them, to be one. Not to act as if these limits don’t exist, but to exist and live knowing that these aren’t the restrictions or categories we should live by, and to instead, live freely in a sense. The decisions that an individual makes every day is how this power can be expressed. I believe a post-feminist still has the same agenda as a feminist, and fights for the same goals regarding equal pay, better representation in the media and government, etc.,  but the depth of a post-feminists’ goal is larger.  It’s more along the lines of re-defining gender.

P.S.: I haven’t 100% finalized my thoughts on the matter, these are currently just my thoughts.

To continue the discussion that was held in class today, I would like to express that power given to women in film is positive. Of course some portrayals of feminine power reinforces certain gender roles and stereotypes, but whether a woman has power from her sexual liberation, her attitude, nurturing ability, ambitions, etc., there’s something of value in each of those roles. I believe that as long as her roles aren’t confined to one particular category, and the female has room to expand her character and her actions, each power is positive.