Women Voicing Their Pain Essay - 2307 Words

Women Voicing Their Pain During the recent international anti-racism meeting, the World Conference Against Racism that was held in Durban, South Africa, the voices of victims of racism and its consequences were heard from around the world. These voices came in various forms, both written and verbal, and were communicated both directly and indirectly. The way that pain is voiced around the world, such as the variety and method of communicating pain, can affect how the audience understands the author’s â€Å"wound†. It can affect how genuinely pain is conveyed and also how the pain applies to other victims. One of the voices heard during the World Conference was that of Diya Muliah, an Indonesian woman working as a maid in Malaysia. Diya’s†¦show more content†¦The stereotypical image of workers being abused in my mind is the female worker being abused (oftentimes sexually) by her male boss. In this case, Diya is abused by a Chinese housewife because Diya is Indonesian and is subse quently considered inferior to Malaysians by her employer. This is significant because it shows the racist root of the abuse, and was probably the reason Diya’s story was selected to be presented at the World Conference Against Racism. She could not complain to anyone because she did not have any documentation and her boss would not return her passport. Yet Diya silently endures this abuse because she feels helpless, recalling, â€Å"All this [abuse] I bore quietly because I had no choice. [My boss] still has not paid me any wages despite having promised me US$92 a month.† Diya’s sense of helplessness as a result of the racism inflicted upon helps the audience to understand and empathize with her pain. One time, after crying out in pain after being abused, the neighbors called the police and Diya’s story was revealed. Her boss was taken into custody. Diya is now awaiting a trial, but even she acknowledges that true justice is almost impossible. In a racist judicial system, nobody will take the word of an Indonesian maid over a Malaysian citizen. Many times her trial has been ‘delayed’, which actually means that it has been postponed because the judicial system is reluctant to punish a Malaysian woman for a crime against an Indian woman. All Diya canShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of Lemonade791 Words   |  4 Pagescame out many articles came forward analyzing Lemonade. One article, in particular, that was intriguing is Bell Hooks â€Å"Moving Beyond Pain.† Hooks starts her article saying that the Lemonade video was created as a money-making, business strategy, but as the text continues the reader can conclude that â€Å"Moving Beyond Pain† is actually about African American women, and women in general, standing up for themselves. 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