Reel Women: Black Women and Literacy in Feature Films

In Joanne Dowdy's Reel Women: Black Women and Literacy in Feature Films, she asks her students watch a few films and to look at them from a different perspective than if they were simply watching them for enjoyment. Many of the films portrayed the women in negative ways such as being abused, ignorant, and under the control of men. I think that this is very degrading because this is not all that Black women are. We have produced very successful women who have accomplished great things and were all very different from the characters that were portrayed in the movies. Not all Black women will allow themselves to be controlled and abused by a man , or hold a powerful position yet still act in ignorance, in fact most of us would never allow it. 

I believe that there should be more films about the strengths and accomplishments of Black women because this will this will cause the rest of the world to view us differently from what is portrayed in films. It will cause the world to see us not only for our bodies, but for our minds and hearts, therefore helping to put an end to and change this terrible label that has been placed on us for so many years. We must step up  and fight for the strong women that we truly are and not the weak and ignorant women that they think we are.