Ashley’s Blog

In this movie, the mother’s breast was removed. She was pregnant and was diagnosed with having breast cancer, so each day her baby grew stronger her body grew weaker. At the time of her delivery her body was so weak they removed both her breasts. Before surgery, the doctors had advised her to bring handkerchiefs to “stuff” her bra with, so what she was left with looked somewhat normal. During this time period the doctors were saying they were doing more mastectomies than tonsillectomies. Telling this to the woman who is emotionally unstable as it is because she just gave birth to a child and now she is loosing both of her breasts. I believe this does not do well for a women’s self esteem, not only is her removing her breasts, the thing that makes her feel feminine, but she is also being told to make herself appear “normal” to the public eye.

            As her children got older and the mother started to heal, her daughter became a model right when women’s curves were “in fashion.” This I think would put a toll on the mothers self esteem as well. Her daughter is making money off of her looks and curves that supposedly makes her a woman, where as the mother does not have this advantage. The movie moves along to where her daughter invited the mother to go to a sauna because “all the women are doing it.” Despite her initial instincts, the mother went in order to please her daughter. Within the sauna, women’s breasts were exposed everywhere. This is degrading to the mother as well, however she never exposed herself. As time went on, the mother feel asleep in the sauna and allowed her towel to drop, thus exposing her scar from her mastectomy. The other women in the sauna stared her down, and it was then that her daughter realized all that her mother had went through.

            The movie ends with the mother and a young black male touching and kissing each other. Also the daughter keeps yelling in the background, “touch her.” This part of the film I found somewhat disturbing. However I understand the point the director is trying to make. In today’s society a woman’s breast is what makes her feminine. When the mother lost her breast, it leads her to feel undesirable.

As with the movie, Tongues United, I do not feel like we watched enough of the movie for me to write a full film diary on. I do however understand the opinions of the people in the film and the purpose of what the film was about.

            Prior to 1980 many people from then blue ridge mountain area were brought down to
Lynchburg to get an operation performed. They were told that it was for their own good and health if they went through with it. What they did not know is that these innocent people were being sterilized. The government sponsored operation supported their actions by trying to create “better genes” by killing off the “bad genes.” Meaning if you were feeble minded, had a harsh disease, blind, deaf, handicapped etc. you would be sterilized for the betterment of society.

            The intersections between Race and Sexual Orientation are plentiful as seen in the movie, Tongues United. Not only has the black man struggled with his race in society trying to earn a name for himself when he did not do anything to be discriminated on, but for him to be gay too goes against all social norm. It is like double the reason for that one man to be discriminated against. As one of the men in the movie pointed out, “Silence is the deadliest weapon,” and these men were trying to end the silence by coming out as gay. Personally I thought that the movie had a good meaning behind it, however I do not think that we watched enough of the movie to get a good enough grasp on everything that happened. I understand that the black gay male was discriminated by everyone, everywhere. They were made fun of by not only the whites for being “smarter gay men” but also by the other blacks. The other blacks believed they gave all minorities a bad name due to the fact that not only were they disliked for being a different race but to be gay also.

            Lastly I do not think that the small segment that we watched gave me enough information to try and write on. Maybe its because I did not understand some of the parts we watched. Especially the “Snap!ology” issue.  I have no idea what a snap diva is and I am even half gay…

Sarah Baartman was a young African woman that was taken into hostage at the age of 25. Although it has been said that she went willingly, she has described herself as a “very unhappy Sarah, who does not deserve her fate.” Baartman was known as a “Hottentot Venus,” due to her large buttocks, hips and genitalia. It was for this reason that she was transported to
London, England and put on display at the local circus. She was told to stand, sit and walk around. All the while, spectators would walk by and poke at her to see if her butt and hips were really that big and to make sure they were real.

            From London, England, Baartman was then transferred to
Paris, France, where she was put in display once again. They would make her perform various tribal danced and bang drums and sing. She was encouraged to do so by sweets and such. These performances were displayed to prove that she was a “wild woman,” something unlike that of European women. It was here in
France, that her care takers became more interested in the science, the make up of her body, rather than for entertainment purposes and values. She was forced to be scientifically observed, where they measured the sizes of her buttocks, hips and genitalia. The scientists then compared her with animals such as the monkey, the chimpanzee, and the orangatang.

            At age 28, Sarah Baartman died of what was thought to be small pox, mixed with alcohol poisoning. Her body was then dissected and observed in a well known French museum and it was not until the year 2002, when her body was returned back to her home land in
South Africa.

            After listening and reading Sarah Baartman’s story, one has to ask the question about rights as a human being… Baartman was black and a woman, making her a severe minority in the eyes of those who captured her. But even if she was considered a minority, does she not have the right to be treated like a “normal human being” instead of some object or wild animal that needs to be tamed and studied? In the era that Baartman was captured, scientists were highly interested in the sex organs of females. The Hottentot Venus’ sex organs were not like anything they had ever seen before. This stroke an interest and a felt need to observe her genitalia. But where should the line be drawn of scientific reasoning, and violation of human rights?

How is it that whenever the American/English Culture meets peoples of a different race we think of them as the lesser person? It has happened throughout history with the Native Americans, African Americans, Jews, and more recently the Hispanics. We consider these people “uncultured savages” that we need to civilize into our ways of living. We try and provide them with education, which includes a new language and a new way of viewing life. Not only do we provide them with the “right education” but also with a new fashion, and new ways of performing everyday tasks. But how is it being the better person removing them from their familiar land, family, and ways, and forcing them to be slaves and/ or workers.

            However, I believe that we were the lesser persons. We were the ones that denied their backgrounds and ways of life. So who are we to say that we are cultured or civilized? The Native Americans were intrigued by their encounter with the English, and they accepted our ways of living. Except when those ways included taking their land, children, and wives away from them. The same goes for the other races; we violated their rights, in today’s standards, as a human being. Back then we didn’t consider them human per say.

            I just believe that we should not be learning or believing that they were the ones that were uncultured or civilized, it was the English people that were, for not accepting their ways of living.

As a continuation of the theme stated above, once
America became “the great melting pot,” these sort of obligations as the “biologically inferior” turned mainly towards the African Americans. In response to the movie, Ms Evers Boys, who does the government think they are by feeling the need to “study blacks.” Where is it documented that the government did the same sort of study on the white population? Did they allow the whites to continue to develop a deadly disease that would eventually lead them to excruciating pain and eventually death? Lastly, did the government even intend on treating the people after their study had been completed?

            These questions I believe were to controversial for the movie to try and answer, it just laid out the facts of the situation. I believe that in the time that the
Tuskegee incident happened, the American government would not have allowed such cruel things to be done to whites. So how come it was ok for the blacks to undergo the pain and suffering but not white people? And they justified themselves as trying to compare the disease’s progress between the two races, but where was the information that had been collected from the white groups?

            This is an extreme opinion but I believe that the
Tuskegee experiment was just an excuse for white government officials who were still angry about the Civil Rights movement to try and “get back” at the black population.

       “A bunch of flowers growing in garbage cans…” This is the phrase an elementary school teacher used to describe her students. The school is located with in an urban area in the state of
Ohio. The schools condition is far passed unacceptable for a learning environment. The elementary school that is teaching our nation’s future had hot wires hanging from the ceiling, leaky pipes everywhere, unsuitable restroom facilities, unsuitable eating facilities, and unsuitable heating equipment. When a kindergarten class has to walk a block to use the restroom, it is unacceptable! In
Ohio, the building and safety codes for businesses and houses are different from the codes that deem a school safe. This means that people in the state work in better conditions then the schools they send their children off to learn in. Thus the codes for the schools are said to be unacceptable for any other citizen to live or work in.

            The urban schools however are in a rut when it comes to fundraising for a better learning environment. A schools funding comes from local property taxes and other miscellaneous local taxes. However when there is high unemployment rates and low property values, then taxes cannot be raised in order to provide money for educational use. It is not like the surrounding areas do not care that their children attend a school where there is puddles on the floor after every rain, they just do not have the finances to better the school.

            How do we fix this problem that connects wealth with the quality of education? The whole state of
Ohio should be concerned about their urban schools, not just the surrounding region. A school tax should possibly be placed on the citizens of that state to help better their schools. Once taxes are collected they can be evenly distributed or distributed based on need. However, how does one decide which schools need the money more than others? I believe safety is the number one issue; schools that have wires hanging from the ceiling and that still use coal as a heat source have more safety needs than a school that needs more technological advances. This money that is distributed to each school will be added to the money contributed by the community towards its own schools in its area.  This allows for schools in wealthier communities to still reap the benefits from living in an area of money.

            The solution to help these schools in need is not easy to provide. However, the students, teachers, families, and citizens of the state all agree that something needs to be done in their benefit. When someone will stand up and take action in order to raise money for these schools, no one knows. Lastly I would like to point out that this movie is dated, so the information that I have provided may stand incorrect or proven wrong in the present compared to when the movie was originally made.