I found the last presentation to be an excellent way to tie in all of themes presented in the course. This group identified resilience, resistance, and a term that had not been introduced throughout the course, reclaiming. We saw resilience in the "Women's Rights are Human Rights" theme where women in some countries now have control over their sexuality through their use of contraceptives, such as birth control. We also saw resilience in the power of documentaries where people used documentaries as their way of sharing their experiences. This was also similar to the Power of Story-telling/Coming Out presentation where resilience was demonstrated when these individuals gained enough strength and courage to come out.
Resistance was seen through the democracy theme, where although the Chilean women were not permitted to exercise their political rights through voting, they resisted against this and found their own ways to exercise their rights. They had done so through the use of quilts which depicted the hardships that they faced while living under a dictatorship.
The last and most important term in my opinion is reclaiming which the group identified as the result of resistance and resilience. To me this shows that the efforts of these individuals did not go unnoticed. It shows women's action to take back something that once was and is entitled to them. This was shown through the protest called "Taking Back the Night" which was women's way of going against the belief that women should not be out late at night. This march took place at night to show that women should not have to be afraid to go out at night, they are entitled to walk outside as much as men are.
Do you feel as though more movements like this need to take place, to have more of impact? Rather than resisting against efforts to hinder women, should women and activists take the next step and reclaim what is rightfully theirs.
