Similar juxtapositions of traditional (in both patriarchal and Asian cultural influences) elements with emerging values, sensibilities, and desires exist in Fire. Mehta's film centers on the growing self-direction and self-realization of a middle-aged woman in a traditional Hindu marriage. Her attraction and budding relationship with another newly wed bride is in many ways the catalyst for the actions and the investigations that occur in the film, but the same-sex attraction is truly secondary to the issue of self-direction and an assertion of feminine identity. This is shown to be an extreme conflict with the traditional values of the Hindu culture, yet at the same time these traditional values are seen to be in a state of complete erosion and emptiness through the treatment of the grandmother character and even the treatment of the central character by her husband. The female and the...
That is, Mehta shows that the rejection of certain patriarchal constructs is actually in keeping with certain Hindi values.
Another distinction central to the Black feminist's thoughts is the alienation she suffers due to the omission of her presence in history. This omission is not only found in traditional examples of history, but also in Eurocentric feminist views of history. The following quotation from Lorde in her letter to Daly shows the frustration and lack of understanding about the reason such an omission is propagated even among those of
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now