Guy-marcus Atidepe
Dr. Salome
English 1303
13 October 2017
HIDDEN FIGURES REFLECTION ESSAY
The movie “Hidden Figures” directed by Theodore Melfi debuted January 6, 2017 is said to be not a movie of ego but instead a story of brilliance, struggle, and willpower. The movie Hidden Figures is based on the true story of three African American women in the 1960’s who were employed by Virginia based NASA in the West Area Computing Division as “human computers” doing math on paper by hand as opposed to a calculator. The three women were, Kathryn Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary. The movie takes place in American during a time that Jim Crow was the law and African American people were treated sub-human and were kept at the bottom of the racial hierarchy (http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm). Each of these women played a key role in assisting the launching of space shuttle, Friendship 7 with John Glenn into space. The film is fundamentally centered on the extreme lead-up the seven missions, which enabled the space traveler Johnson Glenn to become the first American to travel around the earth in a spaceship, a mission that was made conceivable by the work of the West Area mathematicians and specialists, especially Johnson. Each of these women endured diversity issues that are still concerns in the workplace today. Gender Diversity - Historically, only a small proportion of women could afford to work outside the labor force and were typically unpaid family labor such as
When women started working in factories, they faced hardships in working conditions. There were dangerous fumes and explosive dangers. There was always the risk of accidental explosions. It was even harder for mothers because there were not any child care policies offered by many companies. Women soon began making unions, such as the National Women’s Trade Union League, where women met and found ways to help raise women wage and have better work
Hidden Figures is a film based on a remarkable true story about three colored women in the 1960s. The movie follows the lives of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, and Kathrine Johnson. These women used their intellect at NASA to contribute to the launch of the first American into space. Hidden Figures also represents the contribution of these women to society. They helped put a man in space, yet they didn’t receive the proper appreciation during their time. Hidden Figures helps give those women gratitude for all that they did for NASA and the United States. Even though this film acknowledges their achievements, it recognizes the hardships the women faced while working for NASA as well as the hardships of all other African American women in the workplace. A few of the hardships they faced were sexism, discrimination, and ageism.
The film ‘Hidden Figures’, directed by Theodore Melfi, follows the story of Katherine and Mary, two African American women who work at NASA, but are stopped from achieving their goals because they are ‘coloured’. Melfi uses props, dialogue and music to manipulate the audience to think that racism takes effort to resolve and that we are all human. Melfi does this to influence us to change the way we think and feel about people.
These issues had impacted mostly on women because they were all expected to work at home, also in factories only, since it was one of the best attributes for them. In the past few hundred years, many men thought that women were weak or fragile that women should not be allowed to work the same jobs as men. In the men 's perspectives, women were not capable of performing any of difficult that the men do because if women were able to do those, it would seem unmanly for them. Also, it makes the men looks much weaker and not as smart as they are, which is why women could not have equal rights as men. As time went on, women had slowly been given the opportunity to work the same jobs as men, but did not receive the same amount of pay. It was unfair for women to work for such a low wage. No matter how hard they tried to do the same as men, they did not get as much and had a much lesser amount of everything in comparison to men. On the year of 2009 of January 29, our previous president, Barack Obama signed a legislature known as, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The case was first filed to court because the name of the woman, Lilly Ledbetter had found out that her employer was paying her less than the men even though they were working at the same job. “To make sure that people can effectively challenge unequal pay, the law President Obama signed shortly after taking office amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that unfair pay complaints can be
The film Hidden Figures is based on a true story and adapted from the book ‘Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race’ by Margot Lee Shetterly. The movie is centered around a trio of African-American women who worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and played an essential role in sending John Glenn to space amidst a burgeoning Space Race between the United States of America and Russia. Based in Hampton, Virginia in the 1960’s, film depicts the deep racism and sexism prevalent in the United States at that time. The film provides a glimpse of the stark realities that black women faced at the time. From the segregated bathrooms and
Adapted from the book by Margot Lee Shetterly and directed by Theodore Melfi, Hidden Figures is a film based on the true stories of three black women (Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, & Katherine Johnson) working for NASA in 1960’s. Dorothy Vaughan, played by Octavia Spencer in the film, was a programmer and Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae in the film, was an engineer. Dorothy passed away in 2008 and Mary in 2005. Katherine Johnson, a mathematician played by Taraji P. Henson, is now 98 years old and still resides with her husband Corporal Jim Johnson in Hampton, Virginia where the film is set. These women collectively played a pivotal role in sending the first American into space and eventually to the moon. A critical analysis of the film reveals the history and dynamics of racial domination institutionally and interpersonally as well as prejudices and challenges faced by women in particular.
Hidden Figures, an extraordinary film that shines light on women existence and their intelligence. The women, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan used the power of their intelligence to decipher complex math calculations, computer language to build rockets that other could not see. Throughout the movie racial descrepancies were vividly clear, but these eager women had something to stand for. They dared not let the words of bitterness deter them of their worth.
Along with education, work for these women was tremendously different from the type of work women do today. As mentioned before, they were taught how to be
However, not only did women work in the fields they also produce goods, and services; such as clothing, personal hygiene items, and food to be sold in order to build -up their coffer’s through that of their overabundance of supplies. This impact took place during the 1700’s and beyond, when women from all aspects of life filled these domestic jobs while working for very little pay; getting absolutely nothing at all for their work. During the 1800’s, however, this all changed for women and soon these women we’re categorized as being unskilled workers this causing tremendous consequences for these women; especially when the men return for war and once again took on the gender roles to which women were now a custom too.
These women worked on the Southern plantations all day without relief. They not only worked in the fields, but also in the house with their masters. Though people thought slavery was a sin, as Mrs. A did, women could not challenge slavery politically because there was a great lack of decorum in women getting involved with politics, thus African American women continued to work for free (Doc. C). Even though this was a setback, women in the workforce pushed forward and strived to become equal. As women continued to chase their equality in the workforce, they petitioned the Massachusetts legislature to try and equal themselves with men (Doc. I). Although women started off slow, working for low wages, they continued to challenge for their equality in the workforce.
Women’s history in the United States has always been represented as a struggle for rights. Wealth and status were tied to either their fathers or husbands. In the early 1900s, women were afforded the traditional roles of society. The majority of women worked in the home. If they were of the 18% young or poor women, they also worked in factories as laborers, manufacturing items for the booming industrial revolution (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). During this time period the workplace was not in compliance with current safety standards. There was no minimum wage yet, work conditions were horrible and they worked long hours, “In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was 53 hours,” (Fisk, 2003). Women took “pink
Even though women would do the same amount of work as men they would not receive the same pay and this caused a lot of disturbances for woman. This was a problem for woman because it caused more difficulties in trying to come to a solution for equal treatment. In addition according to (Women’s Rights Gale Student Resource) woman did not receive
Being a woman had restrictions in many different areas like voting, education, and professions. One main challenge that women faced during the progressive era was “exclusion from emerging profession” (Brinkley 493). There were many different forms of women’s suffrage movements. Women were concerned about more than just themselves, according to Costain, “women's rights activists are also fundamentally concerned with the advocacy of nonviolence” (Costain). Women wanted more than just jobs, voting, and higher education. They wanted to be seen as equal. They wanted stereotypes such as “the housewife” to stop.
Hidden Figures is a 2016 film that recounts the story of three incredible black women in NASA history: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson. The film largely sheds light on the experiences of these three women working as computers for NASA during 1960s segregated America. Public restrooms are separated between the whites and coloreds, the white male patriarchy dominates the field, and as always, racism is alive and well. During the film, the political unrest of the country is present and very much of conversation, and as these three women navigate their way throughout society with positions no one expects them to hold, they quite literally make history through their groundbreaking work, history
Progression in technology comes with progression of education. The movie “Hidden Figures” highlights the opportunities involved when intelligent, courageous women take strides to create the math to send astronauts to the moon. This movie is about three historical African American women who worked as “human computers” at the NASA Research Center in Langley, VA in the early 1960’s. Katherine Johnson (fellow mathematician), Dorothy Vaughn (programmer) and Mary Jackson (engineer), contributed to NASA space program to successfully send John Glenn, the first man to orbit around the earth, Project Mercury and later Apollo II mission. The film is a powerful reminder of the destructive consequences of discrimination. It holds important career lessons about how to manage and excel at work even under challenging circumstances.