Half The Sky Sparknotes

Movie Analysis: Half the Sky The documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is a broad examination of the day-to-day oppression that women face in the developing world. Created by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, and based off of their book of the same title, the movie tackles the “moral challenge of the century” by discussing several issues that specifically affect women, such as sex trafficking, poverty, female genital mutilation, and more. Each case strives to highlight the voices of women who are making impactful, despite-the-odds changes through the use of uniquely motivated non-governmental organizations. In this paper, the topics explored in Half the Sky will be analyzed, including gender-based

In the movie, it is stated that the half of the Vietnamese population lives below the poverty line, a staggering statistic that indicates a still developing economy in need of massive reforms. Education among the masses plays a significant role in improving the economy, and unfortunately, the female Vietnamese population is not as educated as the male population. This discrepancy is largely due to a culture that favors males over females. Bich Vu of the non-governmental organization Room to Read exemplifies the harmful patriarchal culture when she told the audience that in Vietnam it is like “one boy is one child, but ten girls are not equivalent to one child”. In this segment of Half the Sky, Room to Read is the major organization that is focused on; its purpose is to advocate for disadvantaged girls’ education by covering the fees and tuitions of students, providing supplies and uniforms to children, helping students with homework, and more. Three girls who are a part of the Room to Read program are shown in the movie, and each lives in strenuous circumstances due to poverty. Despite their difficult living conditions, they each work extremely hard towards receiving their education, as demonstrated by the girl named Duyen, who rides her bike for seventeen miles in order to get to school, or by Phung, who must raise her siblings while going to school because her mother died, or by Nhi, who is forced by her abusive father to sell lottery tickets on the streets in order to make an income. The stories of the extraordinary strides made by these resilient girls generate a sense of awe and gratitude among the audience, which makes Half the Sky all the more effective in bringing about awareness of female oppression. The unfortunate aspect about Half the Sky is that while it focuses on generating pathos, it does not discuss the economic pragmatism behind each situation. The