Character Profiles Cyber-Assignment
Post your Lit Circle Profiles (min 3) here.
Don't forget to include page numbers. You don't have to list the characteristics in complete sentences. This is a list.
For homework comment individually on the similarities between the characters or subjects.
The question is what is an empowered woman look like? I am being both figurative and literal. Are empowered women born or do circumstances make this choice inevitable?
In Half the Sky, some women profiled do not live up to their own and others in the community, such as family, Nick or other supporters, expectations.
What does that say to you about these women? Do you think they are weak? What do the authors say? Is the opposite of empowered, "weak" or is the contrast between the two more complex? Why or why not?
The profile assignment was started in class a couple of days ago. If you were absent check with a classmate for notes.
Post your Lit Circle Profiles (min 3) here.
Don't forget to include page numbers. You don't have to list the characteristics in complete sentences. This is a list.
For homework comment individually on the similarities between the characters or subjects.
The question is what is an empowered woman look like? I am being both figurative and literal. Are empowered women born or do circumstances make this choice inevitable?
In Half the Sky, some women profiled do not live up to their own and others in the community, such as family, Nick or other supporters, expectations.
What does that say to you about these women? Do you think they are weak? What do the authors say? Is the opposite of empowered, "weak" or is the contrast between the two more complex? Why or why not?
The profile assignment was started in class a couple of days ago. If you were absent check with a classmate for notes.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 8:27 AM
19 Comments:
Tyler Mecozzi
Ronald Parker
Marcela Miles
Professor Sabir
English 1A 8a.m.
23 February 2011
Mukhtar Mai
-grew up in Meerwala in southern Punjab
-raped by the Mastoi because she was apologizing for her brother’s accusations (70)
-Muslim leader spoke out against the rape as “An outrage against Islam.”
-Mukhtar reported rape to police ($8,300 in compensation) (71)
-started school next to her house
-accused of shaming Pakistan- locked up in a safe house
-built girls’ high school and a school for boys as well
-obtained herd of dairy cows to provide income for schools
-bought a school van that doubles as an ambulance
-built a school in a nearby gangster ridden community
-persuaded province to build a women’s college
-started Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare Organization
-24 hour hotline, free local clinic, public library, shelter for victims of violence (75)
Srey Momm
-Nick bought Srey for $150. Then she was released from the brothel. (38)
-Srey started to become a pimp
-Srey began to beat girls
-She went back for meth (39)
-Brothel was closed down so that was the second time she got out. (40)
·Usha Narayane is a young woman who is 28 years old (48).
·She is literate and holds a 9th grade education (48).
·She lives in Kasturba Nagar (48).
·She had to face Akku Yadav, a high caste man who is considered a tyrant (49).
·Akku Yadav is notorious for using violent crimes against people who oppose him (49).
·They committed vulgar crimes against helpless people to establish fear in the population (49).
·Narayane reacted because the lack of police interference. She also felt that education made her less susceptible to cowering away from Yadav’s tactics (50).
·When Narayane filed a police report, Yadav found out and began to retaliate against Narayane. (50).
·She responded to Yadav’s threats by threatening him herself.
·The village idolized Narayane and began to retaliate as well. Yadav was then faced with a mob of angry women who proceeded to kill Yadav.
·The police finally did react, but in defense of Yadav.
·Narayane was arrested, but with help of the villagers, she was let go with certain restraints.
·She was required to stay in the area and could no longer pursue her hotel career.
Women Profile-Group #4 Including:
Cherefah Obad
Julie Phoukeo
Erin Callahan
Jon Abordo
Definitions-
Empowered: Being strong and powerful. Being able to take care of yourself.
Repressed: Not being able to do what you want and being forced to be something you’re not.
Du’a Aswad- Repressed. Came from a poor family and grew up living in Iraq. Was seventeen when she fell in love with a boy and her parents thought she had done something inappropriate, But she did not. She ran away but the community found her and stoned her to death. It only took 30 minutes for her to die. She died an innocent woman.
Harper McConnell- Empowered. Young American woman volunteers and helps woman be strong and empowered. McConnell became a principle at the age of 32.
Meena Hasina- Empowered. A young Indian Muslim girl forced into prostitution in a brothel. She came from a poor family near the Nepal border. Ran away& then back for her kids. Got married to a pharmacist named Kuduz had two girls with him. He helped pay off her debt to the brothel owners and get her children back. She is very resilient. The turning point for her is when she knew that she could potentially die.
Srey Neth- Empowered. A fourteen year old Cambodian girl forced into prostitution. Was rescued by Nicholas Kristof and helped her return home with her family. After she returned home, She opened up a grocery store in her village. Her health began declining and she took and HIV test which was positive.
Srey Momm- Empowered. A fourteen year old girl forced into prostitution that was friends with
Srey Neth. Like Srey Neth, Nicholas Kristof also rescued her. But unlike her friend, she went back due to her addictions to drugs. She then married one of her customers who was a policeman and now is a housewife with three children she had with him. She left her old life and never looked back.
Usha Narayane- Empowered. A young twenty eight year old Indian woman who was very educated that came from Katsubra Nagar. Her father is a highschool graduate and works at a telephone company. Her parents unlike other parents, Agreed to let her get an education. She worked for a hotel as a hotel management. She was constantly bothered by a man named Akku Yadav. He was the bully of the village. He constantly raped other women and hurt them. She fought against him and in retaliation her raped her. The women of the village got together and beat him to death. She is called the leader of this VICTORY.
Adrieanna Williams, Adalie Villalobos, Zinaida Dzhilavdaryan, Jeffrey To, Theodore Lionberger, Ernesto Castellanos, Group 1
English 1A
24 February 2011
Character Profiles
Usha Narayan
-28-year-old woman from the Indian village of Kasturba Nagar
-Her parents were educated and did everything to give education to all their five children.
-Graduated with a degree in hotel management.
-Her life changed after she visited her family.
-During her visit the family house was robbed by a local gang.
-The gang terrorized the village, but people never called the police because they could be killed.
-Usha was the first person from that village who complained to police.
-Her house was surrounded with gang members carrying a bottle of acid, demanding that she withdraw the complaint.
-The gang was arrested. It changed the life people in the village. She encouraged people to fight (pg 50-51).
-I think that she realized that it’s better to die in the fight than to live in fear all the time.
Sunitha Krishnan
-Middle-class woman and Ashoka member from India.
-She teaches poor children.
-She was a social worker, but brothel owners and gangs didn’t like that.
-She was raped, but it didn’t stop her.
-She decided to switch her career and fight sex trafficking.
-This incredibly strong and smart woman managed to help women escape brothels, educated them, and made them believe that they still can have a good life (56-59).
Mukhtar
-A woman from a village in southern Punjab.
-Grew up in a poor family and never attended school.
-Her life changed when her younger brother was kidnapped and she was raped for it.
-In her village woman usually commit suicide if they have been raped.
-Mukhtar was humiliated, but she found the strength to report the rape.
-The president sent her money, and she decided to spend the money helping others.
-This tiny, shy woman helped build schools, raised money for education and even became a celebrity (72).
Group 2:
Summer Hurst,
Alex Pena,
Stacy Kidder,
Mary Watson,
Elle Johnston
English 1A 9am-9:50am
Character Profile(s):
Usha Narayane – Chapter 3 pg. 48
- 28 yrs old
- Short, long black hair, round face, thick eye brows
- Talks non-stop
- Graduated from university with a degree for Hotel Management
- Brought Community together
- Her family was threatened by dangerous gang
Woinshet Zebene– Chapter 4 pg. 62
- Ethiopian
- Light skinned, black girl, long hair, “pint sized”
- Determined
- Close to father
- Studious
- Brave
- Kidnapped, rapped at age 13yrs old, refused to marry her rapist
Dina – Chapter 5 pg. 84
- 17 yr old
- Shy
- Soft spoken
- Smiled in nervousness
- Rapped caused a fistula in
- Went under two surgeries
Teepian Yu, Ryan Reyes, Ben Valles
English 1A
24 February 2011
Character Profiles
Mukhtar Mai:
Mukhtar is a woman growing up in a poor area in the southern region of Punjab. Like most people of her region, she struggles with getting by financially. Things turned around for the worst when her younger brother got kidnapped and gang raped. She was later raped and shame was put upon her. Commonly in her town, women who struggle with depression due to rape commit suicide. Mukhtar was able to fight the fears and build up the strength to report the rape. In the long run, the president heard of her story and sent her money in sympathy/compensation. To better herself and help others, she decided to use this money on opening a school. This school was able to give guidance and hope to many people. Mukhtar also enrolled in the school. (page 70-76)
Srey Neth:
Neth was taken and sold to a brothel by her cousin. She started out as a virgin. She lost her virginity to a Thai casino manager. That manager eventually died of Aids. Neth was young and light skinned, characteristics of a top rated girl in this brothel. Nicholas Kristoff bought her from the brothel owners for $150 dollars. He then took her back home to her family in a small town in Cambodia. Nicholas gave her some money. With that money, Neth opened a small grocery store. American Assistance for Cambodia agreed to help and look after her. (page 35-45)
Srey Momm:
She was also friends with Srey Neth. A fourteen year old girl is forced into prostitution. She was also rescued by Nicholas Kristof who bought her for $150. Srey also became a pimp and beat girls at one point and eventually went back to the brothel due to her addiction to drugs. (39) She then married a policeman who was also a customer, having three children with him, and finally got out of the brothel because it close down. (40)
Group 2:
Summer Hurst,
Alex Pena,
Stacy Kidder,
Mary Watson,
Elle Johnston
English 1A 9am-9:50am
Definitions:
Empowerment: Strong women who learn through their struggles while keeping their heads up high and keep in touch with themselves. They are weak at first but become stronger as they live on. They all share the motivation to keep going and put their lives before anything else and or anyone else.
David Guzman
David Odza
Amani Ali
Farhad Rahimi
Sherri Short
Eng. 1A 9-9:50
What is an empowered woman?
The Empowered woman, she moves through the world with a sense of confidence and grace. Her once reckless spirit now tempered by wisdom. Quietly, yet firm, she specks her truth without doubt or hesitation and the life she leads is of her own creation. That’s what an empowered woman looks like.
Usha Narayane,David Odza
She grew up in the slums (47)
She is 28 years old (48)
She’s short, and talks nonstop (48)
Her father is a high school graduate with a good job (48)
She has a 9th grade education, and graduated from a university (48)
Edna Adan, David Guzman
From Horgueisa, Somaliland, a not recognized country. (123)
Country where in the 60’s no girls allowed to go to school (123)
Her mother cut her genitals according to the tradition against her will(124)
She became a passionate opponent to genital cutting(1240
She sneaked into school and eventually learned English(124)
She the first qualified nurse-mid wife, first woman to drive and first lady in her nation ((125)
With her personal savings, contributions and retirement pension, she constructed an efficient hospital to treat fistula problems and pregnant women(126)
Today, she trains new nurses(127)
Mukhtar Mai, Sherri Short
Not sure of her age
From a peasant family living in village of Meerwala in southern Punjab
Eyes that burn with intensity
Defiant and outspoken
Initially appears as a shy woman with a head scarf
She was publicly gang raped as a payback for an offense that did not actually occur. She used money, that her government awarded her for compensation of the rape, to build a school for girls that she herself attended and ultimately built multiple other schools and speaks passionately about the correlation of education and changing the outlook of the community’s view of rape and oppression.
All three are women that know Education is the key to change life’s, so they took advantage of their status or fought to get education
Meena Hasina. Meena was:
Kidnapped from Nepal when she was around 8 or 9 years old and was trafficked and sold to a brothel.
Drugged and raped when she was around 12 years old in the brothel.
As a child and there on she was prostituted.
She was continuously beaten and intimidated.
She had two children in the brothel, a daughter named Naina, and a son named Vivek.
Her children were taken away from her by the brothel owner name Ainul.
She eventually fled the brothel.
Afterwards met a pharmacist named Kuduz.
Got married and had children with Kuduz.
Met Ruchira Gupta, an organization founder who’s organization Apne Aap helped trafficked women.
Was able to get her children back with the help of Apne Aap.
She continuously fought for her children even after being threatened.
The raid on the brothel where her children were held happened because of Apne Aap’s connection with the national police.
She did not give up until she got her children.
Andrew Duong
Thailea Boykin
Dereje Bizuneh
Morgan Laporte-Hillard
Ashante Washington
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9:00AM – 9:50AM
February 24, 2011
Mahabouba Muhammad, Chapter 6
-Ethiopia, Jimma (93)
-Light black, frizzy hair (93)
-Worked as a maid early in her life (93)
-Tricked into being sold then raped (94)
-Forced to marry a man named Jiad (94)
-Got pregnant, ran away (94)
-Could not have the baby due to small pelvis (94)
-Could not walk due to nerve damage (95)
-“Cursed” forced to live on the edge of the village (95)
-Paralyzed for 2 years (96)
-Sent to Addis Ababa Hosiptal for repairs (95)
-Could not be fully repaired (96)
-Worked in hospital after gaining mobility, docters gave more responsibilities cause she was smart (96)
-Found a purpose in life (96)
-Able to regain mobility and work, gave hope and inspiration to other women (97)
Sunitha Krishnan, Chapter 3
- One of the abolitionist movement sex traffickers (page 56)
- Tiny, Indian
- Speaks upper-class Indian English
- Raped by the gangs
- Not reported to the police ( page 57)
- Work with catholic missionary ( page 58)
- Saving prostitutions from closed brothel.
Srey Neth Chapter 2
Pg. 35
-very pretty
-short
-lightskinned
-looked 13-14, no real idea of birthday
-black hair over shoulders
-tight pink T-shirt
-plump cheeks
-thin & fragile
-thick make up
-nervious
Pg. 36
-taken to Poipet & sold
-virginity sold to casino manager
Pg. 37
-listlessness
-wanted to be freed
-sold to Nick for $150 w/ reciept
Pg. 41
-grocery store booming
-family regarding her as a foolish girl w/o rights
-back in Cambodia
-business collapsed because of family
-seeking job in the city (Thailand)
-father had turberculosis/coughing up blood
-American Assistance for Cambodia stopped by as she was getting ready to leave for Thailand
Pg. 42
-moved to Phnom Penh to study hairdressing @ Sapor’s
-studied English on the side
-afraid to do massages
-relaxed, vivacious, giggly
-acted like a teenager
-health began declining
-tested positive for HIV 2 Battambang clinic
-confinded in no one
Pg. 43
-felt hopless
-Sothea began courting her
-began falling in love with each other
-didn’t tell Sothea what she really was doing in Poipet or that she had HIV
-became pregnant
-Sothea’s parents disowned him because of Neth
Pg. 44
-became weaker
-wanted to tell Sothea but didn’t
-delivery of baby approched, she was tested: negative for HIV
-began feeling better
-put on weight
-Sothea’s family reunited because of grandchild
-2007, Neth had her son
-final hairdressing classes
-mother-in-law planned to buy small beauty shop
Andrew Duong
Thailea Boykin
Dereje Bizuneh
Morgan Laporte-Hillard
Ashante Washington
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9:00AM – 9:50AM
February 24, 2011
Meena Hasina 2/24/11 morgan laporte-Hilliard ch 3 pg 3-16
-Was an muslim indian girl who was from a poor family whom lived on the indian-napalese border.
-She was kidnapped at the age of 8 or 9 by slave traffickers and sold to the Nutt clan a low caste clan who general dealt in prostitution and petty crime.
-She was then taken to a brothel and held there with other prepubesent girls where the brothel owners waited for them to mature and attract costumers.
-Meena was raped beaten and prostituted for many years. At the brothel where she was kept girls were beaten for the littlest infractions and the other girls were made to watch so that they would intimidated into submission.
- In meena’s brothel no condoms were used luckily meena did not catch any stds. While meena was in the brothel she had two children a boy and a girl whom were taken away from her and used as insurance against escape.
-One time that meena escaped she told the police that she was forced into prostitution and that they were holding her kids hostage the police but she was sent back
-Finally meena escaped and ran a couple towns away but the son of the brothel owner found her and started prostituting her on the side.
-One day he was beating her in the street when a middle class man stepped in. he eventually fell In love with her and married her.
-For many years she tried to get her children back. She also had two more. Eventually she succeeded and started her own school.
Character Profile: Usha Narayane
Usha Narayane
• Introduced in Ch. 3: Learning to Speak Up (48).
• Comes from an educated family (48).
• Graduated from a university, degree in hotel management (49).
• fearless due to being educated. “ ‘She’s fearless,’ Alka said. ‘She doesn’t get frightened by anyone’ “ (48).
• filed a complaint with the Police when the local neighborhood thugs vandalized her neighbor’s house when demanding money (50).
• stood up to local thugs, when they came to retaliate against her for filing the police complaint (50).
• exemplified bravery, courage, and fearlessness to villagers by shouting insults and threatening to blow up local thugs (51).
• such an act gave villagers the courage to stand up to thugs, and they began to fight back against the thugs, and burn the leader’s (Akku Yadav) house down (51).
• Hundreds of the Dalits women went to the scheduled court hearing for the leader, stabbed him as a collective unit, and murdered him (52).
• Usha was arrested, but was proven not to be the cuprit (52).
• “ ‘A retired outcry high court judge, Bhau Vahane, publicly sided with the women, saying: ‘In the circumstances they underwent, they were left with no alternative but to finish Akku. The women repeatedly pleaded with the police for their security. But the police failed to protect them’” (52).
• “ Across Kasturba Nagar, there was a single refrain among the women: We all killed him. Arrest us all!” (52)
• “ ‘We women have become fearless. We were protecting the women’ “(52).
• “ ‘Empowerment ‘ is a cliché in the aid community, but it is truly what is needed. The first step toward greater justice is to transform that culture of female docility and subservience, so that women themselves become more assertive and demanding”(53).
• “But when a woman does stand up, it’s imperative that outsiders champion her; we also must nurture institutions to protect such people” (53).
• “There will be less trafficking and less rape if more women stop turning the other cheek and begin slapping back” (53).
Vanessa Dilworth
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50am
25 February 2011
What Makes an Empowered Woman?
To me, the definition of the word “empower” is the situation where one finds themselves in a state of helplessness and then rises triumphant over their obstacle. While reading Half the Sky, a majority of the characteristics empowered women shared was being treated unfairly because their gender led to them being prostituted, raped, and having their genitals mutilated. However, through the mistreatment they didn’t allow their abuses to take their spirits, instead, they reached out and helped the people around them better their lives.
A woman by the name of Usha Narayane, who originated from a rural Indian village where very few went to college, got her degree in Hotel Management. This was a huge accomplishment not only her family but also her community and made them proud of her. Upon arriving home, she ran into Akku Yadav, a man who terrorized the villagers by raping and butchering them in broad daylight. One day Yadav threatened a friend of Usha’s by ransacking her house demanding money and she reported the incident to police. This enraged Yadav and he threatened to rape and murder Usha in an attempt to get her to stop speaking out but she refused. Instead she became an organizer of the village women who later murdered Yadau for his grotesque acts against them. Now the women are entrepreneurs and make their living by pickling and making clothes among other things to earn an income, another way of empowering themselves.
Other women who have gone through similar situations but have not contained their sense of worth and personal power feel helpless to what is going on in their lives. This was the case with a Cambodian woman, Srey Momm, who was sold to a brothel to prostitute and lived in a cramped room in which she serviced her customers. In an attempt to free her from her modern day slavery, she was purchased by Nick Kristof, author of Half the Sky. She returned to her village three days later resumed her role as a prostitute. What this scenario illustrates is that although some women may be given a chance at bettering themselves, they instead decide not take it. In my opinion, these woman are not necessarily weak, they are instead simply caught up in a bad cycle. Given the right opportunities woman like Momm can become like Usha and help themselves and other woman which in turn help the world.
Vanessa Dilworth, Daniel Galvez, Kaijie Zhang
Professor Sabir
English 1A 9-9:50am
24 February 2011
Character Profile: What Makes an Empowered Woman
A woman that is empowered in my eyes is Srey Rath. She is a Cambodian woman
who was trafficked to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to work 15 hours a day for little to
nothing except for minuscule scraps of food that her brothel owners gave her. One day
she happened to escape but was imprisoned for illegal immigration and then sold back
into exploitation by Malaysian police to a Thai brothel owner. After 2 months in Thailand
she managed to escape and found her way back to her home in Cambodia. Upon her
arrival she met with American Assistance for Cambodia who helped set her up as a
peddler to generate her own money. Her business has since flourished and she has not
allowed her ordeal to steal her spirit but has since gotten married and has since started a
family. She also helps out her siblings and parents. She is empowered to me because
instead of succumbing to defeat she fought for her life and took it back. She is thriving,
not only surviving, as a businesswoman. She gives back to her family and I feel this is
one of the many things that empowered people do once they become healed they reach
out and help someone else (xi-xxii).
Usha Narayane a woman from the slum of Kasturba Nagar graduated
with a degree in hotel management. She was destined to run a hotel one day but ran into
Akku Yadav a mobster, who has killed tortured and raped people. Usha stood up to Akku
by reporting to the police and standing by it even though she was threatened to be raped
and murdered. She gave the people of her neighborhood hope. The people had so much
confidence from her actions they marched down to Akkus house and burned it to the
floor. A group of women took turns stabbing Akku and tortured him to death. Usha was
arrested for being the obvious leader of the women’s actions, she was released two
weeks later Her hotel career is over but she became a community leader P. 47-53.
Mukhtar grew up in a poor family in the village of Meerwala in southern Punjab.
In Meerwala, there are no school for girls, so she never attended school (70).
When her younger brother was kidnapped, her life changed (70). She was braver
than other girls who have been raped in her village, the other girls keep quiet
when they had been raped, but she reported it to the police(71). The President of
her country compensated her ion the amount of $8,300 (71). Mukhtar decided to
use this money to invest in schools for girls (71-72). To be successful, she also
persuaded province to build a women’s college(72-73). Mukhtar changed her painful life by
fighting back and going to the police (77). Women and the girls should learn form her
experience and begin fighting back and learn how to if they are in the same situation.
Sherri Short
Professor Sabir
English 1A (9-9:50)
24 February 2011
(update with page numbers included)
-Not sure of her age (70)
-From a peasant family living in village of Meerwala in southern Punjab (70)
-Eyes that burn with intensity (71)
-Defiant and outspoken(71)
-Initially appears as a shy woman with a head scarf
She was publicly gang raped as a payback for an offense that did not actually occur (70). She used the money that her government awarded her, for compensation of the rape, to build a school for girls (71). She attended her own school and ultimately built multiple other schools (75). She speaks passionately about the correlation of education and changing the outlook of the community’s view of rape and oppression (72).
It seems that empowered women, particularly the ones in this book, become this way due to circumstances that make it inevitable. None of these women could have foreseen the situations they experienced, much less anticipated their own reactions. Their experiences and subsequent reactions were previously unheard of.
Zinaida Dzhilavdaryan
Professor Wanda Sabir
English 1 A 8.00-8.50
28 February 2011
Empowered women
So, what does it mean to be empowered woman? I think that woman should be a woman at the first place. It means that she is the creator of the family and home, the one who will always protect her child, who will do everything to raise him as a good person. And it is not as easy as it seems to be. I think that it is a hard work to bring a person into this world. Women all over the world have different opportunities. So many women die today in childbirth just because they can’t afford the hospital.
To handle all these woman has to be strong. In “Half the Sky,” stories of women demonstrate how empowered women can survive in the most sever societies and help their families to overcome poverty and injustice. All the stories have a lot in common. All these women have to prove that they are humans and they deserve to be treated like ones. In many countries today traditions are very brutal against women. And they have to be brave and strong to withstand the society they live in, to make their own choice of who to marry, when to give a birth. Some women are ready to die for their rights, like in the story of Usha Narayan. Usha was from educated family, and when her house was robbed she filed complaint with police. She knew that police will not protect her, but her actions saved the whole village. This is an example of how life circumstances can change a woman, make her empowered.
According to authors of “Half the Sky” education can help women to change their lives. Building schools in the villages helps girls to escape brothels and early marriage. Creating jobs for women and teaching them skills helps country to develop. Authors believe that women can work as much as men, and most of the times they working harder than men. Book proves that any woman can improve her life.
Tyler Mecozzi
Professor Sabir
English 1A 8a.m.
28 February 2011
An empowered woman in Half the Sky is a woman who gives power to herself in the community. The women in this book have all undergone horrible life-threatening situations, but most have overcome them and grown from them. The ones who have are brought to power in their communities and maybe more importantly, within themselves.
The opposite of empowered is not weak, it is lethargic or broken. These women had to find ways of giving themselves power when the police would not, when the community would not. They had to become inventors, entrepreneurs. They had to be driven to be better than what society cast for them. Empowered women are not born. They are made from how they react to any given situation.
Mary Watson
Professor Sabir
English 1A
9-950am
Character Profile
My group answered the questions as a group, but I decided to answer on my own as well. I believe an empowered woman is one who embraces her trails, uses them to change her tomorrow, and finds the strength to help the next generation do the same. In this book we have met so many women who embody that. Women who have gone through so much, but they never give up. I believe that even though some may not live up to the expectations of others, they are not weak. We are all human and make mistakes. Everyone comes to a point in life where they are weak; it is not necessarily a bad thing. As I mentioned, empowered people learn from it, and move on. I believe every person has the ability to be or feel empowered, but they do not always see it in themselves. An empowered woman, in my eyes, walks tall and holds her head high. She is not easily intimidated, and tries to smile through life's circumstances.
Angela Vasquez
Angelica Munoz
Audrey Topacio
Abraham
Berta
Carolina
Shameiko
English 1A 8-8:50 am
Professor Wanda
A List of 3 Empowering Women from Half the Sky (paRT oNE)
Meena
Meena was kidnapped and trafficked by a Nutt clan to a brothel in Malaysia when she was eight or nine years old to Malaysia. Like what any other girl would do, she fought constantly and was beaten every time. She was drugged, abused, forced to have sex with a man she does not know, and locked up in the brothel. When she got pregnant, the people who “owned her” took her two kids from her to prevent her from escaping, but that didn’t stop her. Meena tried to escape to Forbesgunge to start a new life. Unfortunately her “owners” found her and threatened to kill her. Eventually, she was allowed to live by her own. One day, Meena got married to a man named Kuduz. He didn’t treat her like how the others treated her despite all the circumstances she’s been through. Although she lived a good life with her new family with Kuduz, she still didn’t forget about her two kids. Meena would “journey back to… Ainul Bibi’s brotherl. There she would stand outside and plead for [her children]” (Chapter One p. 8) and would get beaten up by Ainul every time she tries. Her son, Vivek, from the brothel, tried looking for Meena too. When he finally did, Meena asked help from Apne Aap to get her daughter from the brothel. By doing so, her life and her family’s life were in constant danger. But Meena is courageous and strong, and didn’t let anyone intimidate her. Today, “Meena is working as a community organizer in Forbesgunge, trying to discourage parents from prostituting their daughters and urging them to educate their sons and daughters alike” (Chapter 1 p. 16). Her children are in school as well.
Angela Vasquez
Angelica Munoz
Audrey Topacio
Abraham
Berta
Carolina
Shameiko
English 1A 8-8:50 am
Professor Wanda
A List of 3 Empowering Women from Half the Sky (paRT tWO)
Srey Neth
Srey Neth was taken by her cousin from their village and was then sold to a brothel. Although Srey was able to leave the brothel, she was highly guarded by the people that owned” her. Kristoff, one of the authors of the book, offered to take her away from the brothel. He bought her out of the brothel for $150. Srey was given enough money to set up her own grocery shop in the village and it flourished. For a while, her business was doing well until people in her “family needed something took it from Neth’s store—sometimes paying, sometimes not” (Chapter 2 p 41). Because her business went on a downhill and her father got sick, she and other girls decided to go back to the brothel in Thailnd to earn money. Luckily, a representative from an organization came to her house one day, coincidentally, and persuaded her to go forth with her plan. Srey moved to Phnom Penh, arranged by Bernie Krisher of American Assistance for Cambodia, so she can study hairdressing. “Neth lived in the American Assistance compound and studied English on the side, while working full-time in the beauty shop, learning to cut hair and give manicures” (Chapter 2 p 42).
- While studying her health started to decline, she tested positive for HIV
- She Met a man who was trying to purse her, she tried to brush him off but her would not listen
- They eventually go married and she became pregnant
- She could not bring herself to tell him that she was HIV positive
- When her due date approached she tested again and the test came back negative
- She started to feel better and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy
- She finished schools
- Her mother in-law planned to buy a shop where Neth could work
Angela Vasquez
Angelica Munoz
Audrey Topacio
Abraham
Berta
Carolina
Shameiko
English 1A 8-8:50 am
Professor Wanda
A List of 3 Empowering Women from Half the Sky (paRT tHREE)
Mahabouba Muhammad
She was sold by her neighbor to a 60 year old man. She got pregnant and tried to escape. She had a breaching problem with the baby and the baby died and started rotting in her. She was getting sick. She was placed outside the village by her family to be eaten by hyenas. She would fight them of every night. One night, she crawled to a nearby village where a nearby missionary was located. She was brought to a hospital and was cured of her fistula dilemma.
- Grew up in western Ethiopia
- Sent to live with an aunt after parents divorced
- Her and her sister ran away to work in town in exchange for room and board
- “Then a neighbor told me he could find better work for me. He sold me for 80 birr (ten dollars). Page 93
- The man, Jiad, bought her as a second wife, beat and raped her.
- His first wife also beat her.
- At seven months pregnant she ran away and went to her village
- Went to drown herself since no one would help her, and her uncle found her
- He had her stay in a small hut near his house
- She went into labor and the baby was obstructed
- After several days the part of the baby’s head stuck in her pelvis rotted away due to no circulation
- Mahabouba could not walk and had no control over her bowel movements
- Her uncles wife thought it was a cures and Mahabouba was taken to a hut outside the village, the door was removed so the hyenas could eat her
- She fought off the hyenas all night
- She dragged herself to a nearby village, where she heard there was a western missionary
- He brought her in an nursed her back to health
- He took her to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital
- She received physical therapy to walk again
- Because her fistula was so bad it could not fully be repaired
- She had to get a colostomy
- She worked in the hospital
- She has been promoted to senior nurse
Audrey Topacio
Professor Sabir
English 1A 8-8:50 a.m.
28 March 2011
What does an empowered woman look like? An empowered woman is someone who doesn't necessarily need to have overcome extreme trials such as those experienced by the women in the book. She could have been enlightened by what she has read, heard or have seen either in the television or other sources and in response has taken action to make a difference. An empowered woman has the courage, first and foremost, to stand up for what is right; and the will & passion to make a change in her life, as well as others.
As we have learned in the book "Half the Sky," life is not always like a bed of roses nor is it like a cliched movie of a protagonist, after many tribulations faced, has finally overcome them and is now living a wonderful life. No. Not everyone finds a way to escape the brutality of the real world, some-- despite all the help and resources they have been given-- have gone back to the unhealthy environment that has crushed the entirety of their being. They are not weak but rather destroyed. They are not lacking the ability to fight, they have lost their ability to fight, thus the term destroyed. They have become completely hopeless and desperate to alleviate themselves from poverty that they would do anything that would seem like they are making a living that could help them sustain themselves and their family. Plus, these women are destroyed by the drugs they are given, the only thing that gives them the sense of euphoria in the midst of difficult times.
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