Baka Village Movie Gender Roles

584 Words2 Pages

A third major point in the film is the roles of the men and women of the Baka village. In Laicono’s family, the women are seen as the ones who built the camps for shelter when they traveled during the rainy season. Laicono’s wife Deni is seen making the framework of the shelter and cuts part of the stems of big leaves to be put on as roofing. When women are searching for fruit, the men are hunting for meat. The film also shows the different ways men and women hunt for fish. The men use the chemicals of vines that are called rotenones and in order to get the chemicals out, they have to beat them into a pulp. The men put the pulp in baskets and by washing out the pulp in the river, the chemicals are spread causing the fish to float to the surface; …show more content…

Lecture 8 mentions that the Baka are egalitarian in their social organization. For example, the film shows that the women and men all work together and share their findings. When the baby girl is born, Ali is at first jealous of his sister and wanted her to be thrown away. His father Laicono teaches him to care for his sister. Throughout the film, we see how Laicono teaches his sons about life in the forest. He demonstrates how to hunt and gather and how to care for their family. For example, Laicono teaches his son Ali to care for his little sister. Ali goes and sings to his little sister whenever she begins to cry. I found this part of the film very interesting because I was able to see that from a very young age, children are taught how to care and share with their family; they are taught about equality. You also see this type of behavior within the community. The men and women work together and there is was no indication of strict gender roles in the Baka culture. Seeing this family’s life in the rainforest demonstrates that even though the Baka people live deep within the tropical rainforest, they have the same common concerns like we do, from the responsibilities of parenthood of care, education, and concern for their children to sibling

Open Document