African films Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

African films - Assignment Example The use of silence was a tool that disempowered women in the palace by not allowing them to speak about what was happening to them in their life. If they were forced into a behavior they did not want, they were expected to remain silent about the situation. If they were sick, they bore their pain in silence. The women knew what was going on in the palace, but were not allowed to talk to anyone about what they knew. If the woman was not married, the name of the father of any children was never uttered (Tlatti, 1994). The women were considered household slaves and were not allowed to leave the house, were expected to cook, clean, and perform any other duties, as requested by the family, without saying a word. They talked among themselves, but even that conversation was limited. Each woman had to bare her own burden in silence. The only way this silence could have been used to empower the women is if they would have been able to communicate with the outside world and then the family wou ld have had to pay them to keep quiet about the affairs of the palace. Sexual violence was included in the lives of these women, but none of them were allowed to have a voice in the situation. The women were not allowed to refuse, they could fight back until they were over powered, but the act would still take place if the man wanted it to happen (Tlatti, 1994). None of the other women were allowed to come to the aid of anyone being forced and the harm that was caused was not discussed by the victim. If medical attention was needed, a nurse was summoned. Demanding that a woman have an abortion is just as violent and results in death as other violent acts that can and have been performed on people in society. Making sure the slave/servant women remained in the home at all cost required that all births happened without any medical intervention (Tlatti, 1994). This could also be considered a form