Fictionalized Accounts of African Migrant Mothers in And Breathe Normally and Anchor Baby

Year 2021, , 151 - 162, 29.06.2021

Omotoyosi Odukomaiya

https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.883053

Abstract

Representations and discourses about migrants have excluded the narratives of African migrant mothers. Often, discussions about these group of women tend to rely on stereotypes, which consequently trivializes the complexities and nuances that characterize the lives of these women. Adopting an intersectional approach, this article centers the African immigrant mother by exploring the narratives of African migrant mothers in two films. In this article, I explore how institutional systems combine to oppress African migrant mothers in their host nations. While And Breathe Normally (2018) challenges the notion of female passivity—which shapes numerous mainstream Hollywood films—Anchor Baby (2010) perpetuates some patriarchal norms associated with motherhood. However, both films demonstrate the multiple layers of oppression that African migrant mothers encounter in the host country. Through the individual narratives of all the female characters (black and white) in both films, we can see each one of them has personal battles imposed on them by their societies, thereby highlighting how interconnected the lives of women are.

Keywords

African migrant mothers, Hollywood stereotypes, And Breathe Normally, Anchor Baby, Intersectional feminism

And Breathe Normally ve Anchor Baby adlı Filmlerde Afrikalı Göçmen Annelerin Kurgusal Hayatları

Abstract

Göçmenler üzerine olan yansıtmalar ve oluşturulan söylemler Afrikalı göçmen annelerin anlatılarını dışarıda tutar. Bu kadınlar üzerine olan tartışmalar, onların hayat hikayelerini özelleştiren ayrıntıları önemsiz kılan stereotipler üzerine kuruludur. Bu çalışma, Afrikalı göçmen annelerin anlatılarını iki film üzerinden irdeleyerek onları merkeze alır. Ayrıca, Afrikalı göçmen annelerin yerleştikleri ülkelerde endüstri tarafından sistemsel olarak nasıl baskılandıklarını araştırmayı amaçlar. And Breathe Normally, Hollywood filmlerinde sıklıkla karşılaşılan pasif kadın algısına karşı çıkar. Öte yandan, Anchor Baby ise annelikle ilişkilendirilen erkek-egemen normları pekiştirmektedir. Ancak her iki filmde de Afrikalı göçmen annelerin maruz kaldığı baskıcı yapı farklı boyutlarıyla sergilenir. Kadın karakterlerin bireysel hikayeleri üzerinden her birinin kişisel mücadeleleri bu iki filmde de aktarılır.

Keywords

Afrikalı göçmen anneler, Hollywood stereotipleri, And Breathe Normally, Anchor Baby, keşisimsel feminizm

References

• Works cited United Nations Population Fund. “Five Reasons Migration Is a Feminist Issue.” 9 Apr. 2018. https://www.unfpa.org/news/five-reasons-migration-feminist-issue. Accessed 10 Dec. 2020.
• Archos , Irene. “Liminality of Immigration: Losing Cultural Identity Through Motherhood.” Greek American Girl, 8 March 2020, https://greekamericangirl.com/living-liminality-immigrant-motherhood/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.
• Arvanitis, Eugenia, et al. “Liminal Spaces of Temporary Dwellings: Transitioning to New Lives in Times of Crisis.” Journal of Research in Childhood Education, vol. 33, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 134–144. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/02568543.2018.1531451.
• Berger, Michele Tracy, and Kathleen Guidroz. The Intersectional Approach : Transforming the Academy through Race, Class, and Gender. University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
• Boland, Tom, and Ray Griffin. “The Death of Unemployment and the Birth of Job-Seeking in Welfare Policy: Governing a Liminal Experience.” Irish Journal of Sociology, vol. 23, no. 2, Nov. 2015, pp. 29–48. EBSCOhost, doi:10.7227/IJS.23.2.3.
• Clark, Rebecca. “Eloquent Rage: Black and Intersectional Feminism for ‘Grown-Ass Women.’” Resources for Gender & Women’s Studies: A Feminist Review, vol. 39, no. 3/4, Summer/Fall2018 2018, pp. 7–9. EBSCOhost
• Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 43. No 6 Jul. 1991, pp. 1241–1299.
• Davis, Kathy. "Intersectionality as Buzzword: A Sociology of science perspective on what makes a feminist theory successful." Feminist theory 9.1 (2008): 67-85.
• Deliu, Ana-Maria, and Laura T. Ilea. “Combined and Uneven Feminism: Intersectional and Post-Constructivist Tendencies.” Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies & Theory, vol. 4, no. 1, July 2018, p. 5. EBSCOhost.
• Dreby, Joanna. “Honor and Virtue: Mexican Parenting in the Transnational Context.” Gender & Society, vol. 20, no. 1, Feb. 2006, pp. 32–59. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0891243205282660.
• Evans, Jen “Motherhood as Rite of Passage.” Perceptions of Pregnancy: Researchers’ Network, 12 Feb. 2018, https://perceptionsofpregnancy.com/2018/01/29/motherhood-as-rite-of-passage/. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.
• Flood, Michelle. “Intersectionality and Celebrity Culture.” Women’s Studies in Communication, vol. 42, no. 4, Nov. 2019, pp. 422–426. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/07491409.2019.1682917.
• Freedland, Cynthia “Feminist Film Theory”. Draft for the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics forthcoming from Oxford University Press, edited by Michael Kelly. https://uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/femfilm.html. Accessed 4, Dec. 2020
• Hewett, Heather. “Mothering across Borders: Narratives of Immigrant Mothers in the United States.” Women’s Studies Quarterly, vol. 37, no. 3/4, Fall/Winter2009 2009, p. 121. EBSCOhost,
• Hopkins, Peter. “Social Geography I: Intersectionality.” Progress in Human Geography, vol. 43, no. 5, Oct. 2019, pp. 937–947. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0309132517743677.
• Hunter, Allen. “And Breathe Normally: Sundance Review.” Screen Daily, 19 Jan 2018 https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/and-breathe-normally-sundance-review/5125531. Accessed 7 Dec. 2020.
• Kirk, Kate, Ellen Bal, and Sarah Renee Janssen. "Migrants in Liminal Time and Space: An Exploration of the Experiences of Highly Skilled Indian Bachelors in Amsterdam." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43.16 (2017): 2771-2787.
• Marks, Peter. “Golden Dragon at Studio Theater.” The New York Times, 8 Nov. 2011www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/golden-dragon-at-studio-theatre/2011/11/08/gIQAAuna2M_story.html. Accessed 04 Dec. 28, 2020.
• Paynter, Eleanor. “The Liminal Lives of Europe’s Transit Migrants.” Contexts: Understanding People in Their Social Worlds, vol. 17, no. 2, Spring 2018, p. 40. EBSCOhost.
• Phizacklea , Annie. “Women, Migration and the State”. Feminism and "Race", edited by . Bhavnani, Kum-Kum Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp 319-330.
• Rendón García, Sarah A. “‘No Vamos a Tapar El Sol Con Un Dedo’: Maternal Communication Concerning Immigration Status.” Journal of Latinx Psychology, vol. 7, no. 4, Nov. 2019, pp. 284–303. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1037/lat0000131.
• Ross, Lynda Rachelle. Interrogating Motherhood. AU Press, 2016.
• Soave, Robby. “Intersectionality 101.” Reason, Jul. 2019 https://reason.com/2019/06/17/intersectionality-101/. Accessed 07, Dec. 2020.
• Sutherland, Jean-Anne, and Kathryn M. Feltey. “Here’s Looking at Her: An Intersectional Analysis of Women, Power and Feminism in Film.” Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 26, no. 6, 2017, pp. 618–631. EBSCOhost
• Wittekind, Courtney T. “A Space ‘In-Between’: Liminality and Landscape on the Thailand-Burma (Myanmar) Border.” Visual Anthropology Review, vol. 32, no. 2, Fall 2016, pp. 180–191. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/var.12109.