The Film Little Women and the Problem of Social Inequality of Women - Essay Example

Little Women (1994): Traditions and Depictions of Educational Issues

Throughout the United States, schools have fostered various regulations and policies to establish equality and equity within the institutions. However, learning institutions have become a breeding ground for social inequalities vastly experienced across the nation. The film Little Women 1994 explores traditions, and depictions of social issues in American society concerning major concepts learned in class. Various social issues are evident in American society. Over the years, debates and different forums have pointed out the white supremacy has dominated and undermined the social development of other social groups in America. In the film Little Women 1994, the director focus on women and their place within the society after World War II. With this in mind, various social issues that are eminent within American society are depicted. Therefore, the film aligns with the article Dear Mr. Kozol Four African American Women Scholars and the Re-Authoring of Savage Inequalities with the prospects of looking into inequalities in American public schools.

The film Little Women 1994 portrays education using the traditional progressive approach where women and other marginalized populations are obstructed from achieving it. For instance, Amy's teacher strikes her when she purchases limes to keep up with her face. She is punished for bringing the forbidden fruit to school. It is essential to note that the classical approach that the teacher enacts for her transgression results in negative implications on Amy. For example, it denies her expression of passion, and later she suffers greatly for the public reprimand.

Social inequalities within public schools have been experienced over the years in the United States. According to Farmer-Hinton, et al. (2013), Savage Inequalities highlights to readers the civil rights legislation and remedies on the education system that has remained segregated and inherently unequal. For instance, these scholars' study depicts that school administrators, teachers, students, and families in many of the United States cities and suburbs have depicted that educational opportunities vary from one different social class to another. Equally, social factors such as race, religion, and gender play a significant role in educational opportunities.

On the other hand, Little Women 1994 compliments the prospects of the authors of the article above by exploring the lives of four young women in American society on race, social class, and other factors. While on the surface, it seems a simple film, the four March girls` journeys from childhood to adulthood provide critical evidence for social segregation among institutions like schools in the United States. The film emphasizes women and how they struggle to conquer various challenges the face within the society. For instance, women are brought up in conditions where they need to undertake domestic duties that undermine their abilities to attend to their growth, such as education. Social segregation in terms of duties and responsibilities within the home are significant adversities that affect women from achieving their goals. In the film, Jo and Amy face considerable drawbacks as a professional artist and a dutiful woman (Tatum, 2001). These are the inequalities that women face within society and in schools as they drive their quest to achieve educational objectives.

In the study about savage inequalities on social justice perspective, Farmer-Hinton et al. (2013), highlight the hypocrisy of equal schooling opportunities in America. The article depicts that racial segregation is significantly associated with aspects of gender, especially among the African American community. Another issue that these authors note is that racial segregation much emerges following lack of public commitment to equality and social justice within the urban societies and schools. It is evident that racial discrimination and inequalities still dominate learning institutions in America. Black women have found themselves languishing in the aftermath of these inequalities.

The issues of race in American society can be well referenced from the 2014-2016 riots that took place in Ferguson, Baltimore, and Charlotte. These are segregated neighborhoods with recorded high rates of crime, violence, and poverty over the years. It is essential to note that these areas entail individuals of socially marginalized individuals. To understand the social issues surrounding these areas, it is vital to look at their composition in terms of race. For instance, Ferguson is generally a black community area. However, records depict that when African Americans moved into a neighborhood like Ferguson, there was a gradual movement of white families out of the city. This follows racial prejudice approaches from the white families that drove them all white leaving behind the blacks to occupy the area. With this in mind, the majority of public schools have depicted similar trends according to research. Public institutions, especially high schools, have been left for African Americans who cannot afford education in the private institutions of learning.

Equally, the film Little Women 1994 address the issue of social inequalities among women during the industrial revolution period in America. The industrial revolution periods marked a time when there occurred changes in a woman's power to earn a living. Given the scenario, work stands essential to the March family members, with prospects exploring if women are happy when they venture into skilled labor compared to working traditionally within the homestead. This relates to the social inequalities among African Americans in many of the learning institutions in the United States that are limited opportunities, such as learning in various institutions. Equally, the whites consider moving out of the Ferguson area when African Americans move into the area because of the racial prejudice they have towards the blacks.

Farmer-Hinton et al. (2013) provide that inequalities within schools are further propagated by the fact that the government has failed to enact considerable systems of handling social disparities within the society. Moreover, legal scholars of color have gone the extra mile to raise the concern with CLS's failure to acknowledge race and racism as critical aspects of oppression in formal and informal education centers. These researchers assert that racism has always been challenging to recognize and challenge because it is deeply rooted in America's societal fabric. With this in mind, there are prospects such as concerns on revealing claims of color blindness and meritocracy that have dominated the social sphere over the years.

In the film Little Women 1994, the issue of social class is significantly approached by the director through the March family that is plunged into poverty following shadowy circumstances. Throughout the film, the notion that poverty is valuable is vastly emphasized with perceptions that material wealth leads to moral decay. Therefore, the family has been distinguished from wealthier neighborhoods from the prospects of social class and minority races that are immigrants into the country. For instance, the idea that the lower classes possess a kind nobility and virtue compared to individuals in the upper classes have been significantly fostered in the film to highlight social class inequalities in the community. Evidently. This form of inequality seeps down into societal institutions such as schools. The type of poverty experienced by the March family is the working poor. On the other side, the King family is a direct opposite of the March family. The King family entails a wealthy community that can meets its financial needs, but reminds social class ideologists that wealth is not a guarantee of happiness.

Interestingly, the impact of social inequalities such as racism and social class begins as early as our preschool years. This is because children are exposed to misinformation regarding people different from those of their social class, race, and other social aspects. A good number of college students have grown up in neighborhoods where there are limited opportunities to interact with other people from various social backgrounds (McIntosh, 1995). With this in mind, many students in colleges align themselves with social groups since they have little knowledge about others. Equally, they may bear the prejudiced perspectives that they may have been instilled by the families or information acquired from different sources. The film Little Women 1994 complements with the approach because it equally depicts independence and women's rights. Among the significant social issues in schools is freedom of women and their rights to education.

In conclusion, Little Women 1994 looks into the social issues surrounding women after World War II in line with the various social issues in schools through assimilating multiple research. These are the inequalities that women face within the society, as well as in schools as they drive their quest to achieve educational objectives. With this in mind, these scholars have established that school administrators, teachers, students, and families in many of the United States cities and suburbs have depicted that educational opportunities vary from one different social class to another. Therefore, social inequalities among African Americans in many of the learning institutions in the United States are evident through limited opportunities such as inadequate resources among schools in black communities.