Women the world over have had an influence on their societies. In Taking Root, Wangari Maathai sees the destruction of the Kenyan forests and takes steps to reclaim the forest with the help of the local women. In I will be a hummingbird, Wangari Maathai tells a story about how a fire consumed a forest. All the animals, both large and small, were frighten and did nothing to stop the fire with the exception of a small hummingbird. Both films show how women are thought to be insignificant in their societies yet can still make an enormous impact on the world around them.
The social structure for women’s living is often seen as being inferior to men. In Kenya, Wangari wants to plant trees in order to combat the destruction of the Kenyan forests. She is told that she would need a degree to plant trees but she does not believe that she needs one. Instead, she educate the women in her community about how to plant trees. This is unusual because planting trees is not considered to be a woman’s job. Likewise, many women around the world have taken steps to enter work fields that were thought to be male dominated. However, these attempts are not without much struggles since many societies tend to be patriarchal in nature. In Kenya, when the women began to organize themselves in order to plant trees, the policemen would intimidate the women because the women being organized was seen as a threat to both society and the Kenyan government. In most society, women are considered to be second to men.
According to the film, Taking Roots, men in Kenya are deemed to be the "sage" of the family. He has all the knowledge. Therefore, the women are to submit to their husband due to his superior. Many Kenyan women follow this tradition. However, Wangari’s successful campaign to prevent a tall tower and statue from being built within a public park in Nairobi had shown the women that they have the ability to do great things in life despite their perceived place in their society. Wangari’s action had upset many people in her society including her husband who had divorced her. In many societies women are considered less intelligent than men. Often times, parents do not see the need to educate their daughters especially if they have a son and if they do not have the financial means to pay for education for all their children. Many women go on to lead hard lives. In more recent times an increasingly amount of men are realizing women can contribute positively to society. Despite all the hardship she faced, Wangari never gave up her struggle to improve Kenya.
In the film, I will be a hummingbird, Wangari tells the story of how a small bird tried to make a difference when faced with a monumental task. The story Wangari tells reflects the lives of many women. Some women see injustice in their society and take it upon themselves to right the wrong. However, the women are often times faced with a lot of adversary from people in their society especially if they go against the norm. In telling the story of the hummingbird, Wangari is saying that women, though seen as being insignificant by their society, can accomplish great things even if it is only one person against a crowd of people. Like the hummingbird which puts a tiny drop of water on the raging fire, a woman can start something huge even if her effort seems to be pointless by those who either oppose her or have not had the courage to join the woman in her struggle.
There have been many positive influence between women and their society. As in the case of Wangari who went on to form the Green Belt Movement which taught women how to grow and plant trees. While it started out as a way to positively influence nature and benefit society, the Green Belt Movement would later go on to help end poverty and ignorance in the Kenyan society. It helped to form an open communication between the different Kenyan tribes. The communication between the tribes led to a decrease in tribal warfare and deaths. Additionally, the Green Belt Movement went on to help prevent the political oppression which led to corruption in Kenyan society as well as the continuous destruction of Kenyan forests. Women the world over have been able to help rid their society of corruption, poverty, oppression, and other economic hardship. Even in America women are trying to right some social injustice. Currently, “There are now more women behind bars than at any other point in U.S. history” (Rebecca Project for Human Rights and National Women's Law Center 5). A lot of these female prisoners are pregnant mothers that are treated inhumane while giving birth. The Rebecca Project for Human Rights and the National Women’s Law Center seek to help prisons to accommodate pregnant women in a better way while trying to seek justice for first time offenders.
Women around the world are standing up to social norms. In many places, they are entering society during times when their society was dominated by men. As a result, many women have and continue to struggle in order improve their societies. It is becoming clear that women have a positive effect on many aspect of their society.
Works Cited
Rebecca Project for Human Rights, and National Women's Law Center. Mothers behind bars: a state-by-state report card and analysis of federal policies on conditions of confinement for pregnant and parenting women and the effect on their children. Washington: Rebecca Project for Human Rights, 2010. Web. 10 Aug. 2016.
