Leading Women in Films and Equal Opportunity Term Paper

For many centuries young girls and women have been considered inferior, the second rate citizens and as they grew up the mentality that that they are mediocre and mainly they would not do much to lift themselves. The girl child from history has been taught that their main agenda in life is to give birth and on reaching the age of thirteen they are considered as a liability. All this has changed with the evolution of time. The women have been gradually rising up and learning about their rights and taking up their position to make a change in the society. The self willed women have strongly and successfully empowered the other women and have profited the community culturally, politically and well heightening the levels of economy. Women have been working hard and in many cases more than the men and have aggressively tried to cub gender discrimination so as to give women an equal opportunity with the men. Powerful organizations have been sanctioned e.g. United Nations Women‘s Treaty. It is under such a foundation that girls are growing protected from the deformation of the unfair society and are making strong women to lead in the future. Religion has also played a very big part that has contributed to bring up great community, the teachings and lessons help create self confident and have resulted to great woman sensitizing about their right and gender equality.

The film that has its foundation of creation based on the actual strike that happened in opposition to the kingdom of Zinc Mine in Mexico, it closely deals with the discrimination and the injustice against the Mexican-American miners. Their strike was a cry of equality so as they could achieve wage parity with their fellow miners in other mines and also to be treated with respect as their workers (‘Salt of the Earth’). The film heightens the women participants (miner’s wives) in this village as they play a very important role in the success of the strike and the formation of a new era in that village. Although the major chauvinism was coming from the outside they reached the victory of oppression when they learnt that prejudice was not only imposed from the exterior but was also found amongst them and thus they learnt to live with themselves (‘Salt of the Earth’).

On the other hand, the 1980 Ruba Rich produced film, Coming to the portrait of Teresa, is a great art of work in trying to describe a woman that is needed to have different characters to fit in, in the different society that she feels she can handle despite the victimization from the husband who is not thrilled by the guts her wife has (‘Coming to the portrait of Teresa’). Despite her duties as a wife she wants to do more beyond being a wife and a mother. She makes a serious attempt to cub the epidemic that is rising in her community of men, not accepting that women can get completion in other things like jobs and careers other than finding the right man and settling for marriage. Teresa who was merely working in a textile company to make ends meet but she wants more, she bravely makes her way into an amateur dancing group for her satisfaction. Her husband is neither welcoming nor is he helpful around the house and as Teresa comes home late the marital altercation starts at the door going all the way to the bedroom (Chanan 145). ‘She is tired; he is jealous. She is explanatory; he is mistrustful’ (‘Coming to the portrait of Teresa’). They go to bed with a conclusion for the night but no resolution since her tones clearly states she is not stopping.

In the earlier ages men flocked the theaters to audition for movies but mainly their thrill was not in the moves but an attraction of the women seeing them as a sexual object, but on the other hand the role of women in the screen have drastically changed and they have taken up their position with respect and even taken responsibility presumed for the male only. This leads to a dispute between the both of the them but Teresa is not willing to bow to his husband’s will, since she is completely bored by the unwillingness of his husband among other people to go with the times, that calls for women to hold respectable position in the working places and loss the double standards adopted by the men that hold double sphere in private. Teresa is neither intimidated by his husband’s jealousy nor his lack of interest she aggressively continues with her public union meeting the next day (‘coming to the portrait of Teresa’). She amplifies her voice pointing out the indisposed will of their men at home yet they never stop to complain but they never lift a figure to assist. The women in this neighborhood are willing to make more with their lives yet they are tied with motherhood since the daycare centers were left a long time without being repaired.

From a female point of view there are a few things here and there that Teresa sits and admires after the revolutionary. Activities women had successfully campaigned making the women of the land literate so they do not have to be made decisions for; they had access to health facilities in regards to abortion and reproductive freedom such that their husbands would not force their wives into getting babies. The law of the land articulated the incorporation of women in the work force and that included them in all levels (‘coming to the portrait of Teresa’). Gender equality was a thesis that was to be embraced after the radical changes that happen giving the women a chance to have equal opportunities and having them no longer as the men slaves.

Equivalently on the other side of the continent Esperanza Quintero who is expectant with her third child is well established with the house work and although they are not getting enough for the family from what the husband is making in the mine, she is a bit reluctant or per say ignorant to do anything to help the situation. Her husband tells her about their plan to take down the ruling regime with the aim and hope that the elected person will better yet consider their pay to upgrade their livelihood (Chanan 164). Esperanza is still reluctant but when their men are obliged to end the picketing, that only motivates her since she knows that the suffering will not only be for the husband but also her and her children. She aggressively mobilizes other women (wives to the miners) to convince their husbands so that they can go on with the strike. Esperanza together with the other women meets their men in the union hall, and after an inferno debate the women take up their position in the blockade and they decide they want to be counted in the quest for justice.

Just like in the 2001 Juan Gonzalez book, Harvest of Empire, we see an insistent woman who after her husband died, and was left with the burden of taking care of eleven children looks for all mean within her reach to feed the family. After an epidemic took away five o her children, she is saddened by the situation but nevertheless ends do not meet. Resembling the other two women she pulls herself together, and since the casual jobs were not paying off, she had to look alternatives to feed her family. She puts up four of her children for adoption and others for casual jobs like hers and in exchange they would get food and shelter, which she could not provide (Gonzalez 23). These women are seen to portray a character of concern for either their fellow women in the community or for their family. They take up the leading positions to get what they think is best for their counterpart without the care of the risk or victimization that can face them, still they move along to get to achieve their goal.

The progressive mourning of Teresa in this film has been notably recognized as one that presents her to her viewers in her daily struggle that will most often than not, never be noticed by her husband and children that are never gratefully (Chanan 173). Certainly we see her rise from the comfort of her bed leaving her husband to continue sleeping and goes on to make breakfast for him and the children (Chanan 173). This is her day after day in the contemporary life of the revolutionary. While she is making breakfast she does the dishes from last night’s meal and warms water for her three boys to get dressed (Gonzalez 27). Shortly after she wakes up the husband who gets ready and finds the rest of the family at the dining table, soon after she is left alone to do the cleaning, while alone the strong woman among the family and the public sobs exhaustedly due to the “double day” that she has to go through every day. Despite the strenuous life style she will have to put on a public face and leave the house to go meet her civil duties. She is needed to stay with the dance group a little longer yet the family is still wait for her back at home but a day’s hours are not changing not even with the revolution of the surroundings (Gonzalez 36).

Just like Teresa and Esperanza from the past who took up role that were mainly considered to be for men and called for change.In the more contemporary times women’s task in the film has also been highlighted as being the leading actor and stars, placing their position equal the same like that for men. Though in the film women have included the double life in the film just like Teresa, she manages her family and at the same time hold up a successful career, this has been well suited from the past into the modernistic films. Thus, the feministic qualities in her ability are well presented.

The same practically happens with Maria, whose son whom his mother was struggling to provide food for him and his other brother, the only children she was living with, gave him up to the nun’s where she was sure he would not face starvation. She did this for his sake but with the guilt continually haunting her she reclaimed him from the nuns when she was sure they could not go hungry. However, despite the endless effort to ensure her sons do not die of hunger whenever he was under the influence of alcohol he would ungratefully recite the tale of how his ‘unloving’ mother abandoned him to the nuns.

Commonly in the portrait of Teresa and the salt of the Earth we find the women acting in respect to their surroundings and the situations that they are facing, them and their family. Teresa is faced by the strong need for the women to be more educated to allow them an opportunity in the labor force and equal openings for raises and promotions in the corporate world. She hates it when she sees the lazy, controlling men in the house who want their women to live under their shadow, and not to explore their full ability. She goes out to sensitive the other women to make more out of their lives and not to settle for less as wives and mother (Gonzalez 45). She aggressively campaigned for day care to be rebuilt to free the women from her motherhood duties and give her a chance to do more with their lives. Meanwhile Esperanza is motivated by the idea of the strike especially when the husband and the other miners are warned about going through with the plan. Through that she gets a wakeup call and she leads in the drum up among the other women to assist their husbands to go through with strike. She is counted in the front line to salvage their families from poverty. She knows if they unite they will conquer the oppression surpass to them by their superior and their husbands will get better wages, and that will be a means away from poverty. The same character is well presented in Harvest of Empire as we see Maria doing all that she thinks is right just for her not to see her family starve to death and give them a shelter. She sells her late husband’s house to provide for the children and when the finances are over she had to look for another option. She puts away her personal emotion and over looks her desire to look after her children and look s for their best interest even if it meant giving them up for labor and in orphanage.

The women in these films have continually shown the strong will in them, which is motivating them to keep them working to meet their goal and see things happen. They have distinct conflicting values from their husbands or male counterpart, but that does not discourage them in any way. They beautifully demonstrate their beliefs and ability as they choose to challenge the male, teaching them that they are also capable. Their strong character inspires them to face any challenges as they come yet they lead in the quest for their “quencher”. Their movement in the community and family is shaken since they are considered delicate, weak and vulnerable but they strongly refuse to compromise and they go on pursing until they see change.

Works cited

Chanan, Michael. The Cuban Image. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1985.

Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 2001.

Portrait of Teresa. Prod. Ruba Rich, Dir. Pastor Vega, Perf. Daisy Granados. DVD. Image Movers, 1980.

Salt of the Earth. Dir. Herbert J. Biberman, Perf. Will Geer, David Wolfe, Mervin Williams. Documentary. Harbor Electronic Publishing, New York, 1965.