Post by Kelly Cloward
MAKE UP for "The Women Outside" film

Just a few short comments on "The Women Outside" (I watched the DVD with Kari a couple weekends ago).

First of all I thought one of the women that they spotlighted (not the one that moved to Hawaii, but the other one...and I think I might be mixing people up, but I think she owned a bar or something) was very intriguing. First of all the way she got into the "service industry" was a complete shock to me. Apparently some guy (an American) just sold her, as if he owned her, and she didn't even know him! She'd just met him! That's so insane. What gives him the right to just pick her off the street and sell her like a stray dog or something...worse. That's just inconceivable to me and I still feel like I must have gotten some facts twisted or something.

The second thing that really struck me was her casual attitude. She talked about her situation in such an off-hand way, like there was nothing unusual about it. I guess this is just one of the ways that women cope with these terrible situations. If there's really nothing you can do about it, then you have to just accept it, but that's such a harsh reality. Also, her attitude made me realize how much this really is such a common thing. For her, and so many other women, it's just a part of life...that's just how things are. I hate that. And it's not her fault, but like the other woman showed, it's pretty much impossible to escape it. After the women are forced into these situations, their culture does not allow them back in. The only relief is if they are luck enough to find a foreign man that is willing to care for them, and not abuse them. But even this is difficult because of the cultural barrier and the unintentional racism--this can create psychological, if not physical, abuse.