Ruined by Lynn Nottage

Women were the spoils, plunder, booty, prize, taken by force in this war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The themes are rape, exploitation and survival. What an existence to have to live in servitude. And then the final blow to be an outcast with a Scarlet R upon them in their villages to never return. And the equally sad thing about this is that they were being pillaged from both sides of the enemy lines. Mama allowed rebels from both sides to patronize her establishment.  How could these men have no respect for their country woman? They were just barbarians!  Mama perpetuated these acts of violence against these women. These were women that carried an indomitable spirit. Except for Sophie. She was a rebel within her own right. She had a way of escape, a plan, until her plan was foiled by Mama, I really believed that she and Salima would end up getting away. Josephine seemed like she was just so content in her current station in life she found herself in. 

 There was something about Mama Nadi that I saw in her like she was almost nurturing to these young women. And I think that in the end, it was because she had experienced what they were currently going through. In a way, she was a little protective over them because she didn't want them to be out there for the dogs (soldiers) to continue their wretched abuse. As she stated, that she was ruined, she really had a change of heart by offering a means for Sophie to have the medical attention to be repaired. We can apply this Bible verse to this act of kindness that Mama Nadi showed.
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position, so I could save the lives of many people." (Genesis 50:20 NLT)

 What struck you about the way in which this specific topic/theme is presented in the play? How did reading the play and processing the interpretation of this topic impact you?

 Opportunistic soldiers were taking advantage of each other’s women as another means of attack. It was very subtle in which it was introduced at the beginning of the play with sexual innuendos that there were plenty of women to pleasure men at Mama Nadi’s bar. This was apparent when Christian arrives, and Mama asks what he brought her, and Christian says,” Three.” and Mama says, “They look used. Worn.” Instantly, I knew she was referring to women. I saw how Christian was trying to offer her to get a bargain by say, “Two for the price of One.” it was business as usual. Women were being exploited by everyone. This is the world that we live in, Women are very valuable to the world and are taken for granted around the world by men and each other. I don’t like to hear of stories where Women are suffering because I am a woman and since the beginning of time women have been taken advantaged of.
What drew you to the article you chose to blog about in conjunction with the play? 

I selected and read the article within American Theater the Borders of Our Lives written by Marsha Norman who interviews Hillary Bettis writer of the play ‘The Ghosts of Lote Bravo’ because she talks about embracing her heritage and depicting the pain of exploited women in Mexico. It also mirrors the same stories about her own experiences of violence at the hands of men like in “Ruined.” I want to know why she wrote this play and the research she used to write this play. This play was written about women that have been exploited and the violence they have had to endure. The setting is in Mexico on the border where it is called feminicidio for femicide in Spanish. Many of the women work in sweatshops because of N.A.F.T.A. and also there is sex trafficking while getting across the border to find work.

What do you think influenced the artist(s) featured in the article to address this issue?

She wanted to understand what sort of circumstances in the world, in society, make women so disposable, that it’s okay to use and brutalize them with impunity. She grew up in a family with a lot of brothers and there were no girls and part of her survival was learning how at a very young age to navigate violence and men being tough. She had to learn how to stick up for herself and never show her feelings or vulnerability.

The playwright for the play, "The Ghost of Lote Bravo, Hilary Bettis says,.
she wrote this play with an American audience in mind because by the end of the play she wanted an American audience to find themselves rooting for a Mexican immigrant to cross the border illegally.  She wants them to understand, if you have children that are starving you're going to do anything to provide for them. If you see your children see violence and murder every single day and you know that just on the other side of the borders there’s a safe country where people can dream, can make a decent living, of course you're going to cross the border to work.  Her work was that through this play, people will value the lives of those suffering and being exploded in Mexico. She states that  Amnesty International state, "80% of migrant women are raped on their way to the U.S."  In fact, many women take birth control before their journey because they assume they'll be raped. And its women who suffer most because whenever things are bad women suffer the most. Hilary Bettis says she will spend her entire life trying in every way of fighting to bring attention to the explotation of the women eking out an existence to feed their children who are crossing the dangerous borders of Mexico and the United States to find work. She herself has experienced a hard life starting in her childhood, she experiences physical and sexual violence. She was abused at 6, raped at 14 and she's seen a fair amount of gun violence. By the time she was in 8th grade, a boy a pointed a gun at her head and told her that she was to be his girlfriend or else.

How would you explain their agenda for what they hoped the work would accomplish based on how it is described in the article? How does it compare to the motivation Nottage had to write Ruined? First the comparisons that I see are that both playwrights met women of third-world counties that were devalued, and sex was the weapon of choice used against these women without consent. They also had to work under deplorable conditions to survive.

Based on your interpretations from the readings, how have these works impacted society in a positive (or negative) way? Cite specific examples from Chapter 21 in Enjoyment, from the online article you selected, and from and the commentary on the play/playwright in Bedford.

Being that being that Mexico is so close to America, this play sheds light on the fact that weapons that are coming from the United States are purchased legally and traced to Mexico which is being used by the cartel to further their carnage against Mexican women. Many of the goods that these women manufacturers in the sweatshops, travels by trucks in which the cartels drugs are also being transported into the United States.  The cartel also participates in the sex trafficking of these women who also happen to work in the sweatshops. These are clothes made by exploited women in Mexico that Americans are wearing. For theatrical responses to 911 mentioned in our textbook. "The Enjoyment of Theater," these types of plays speak to social injustices around the world. These are also identity Theatre plays written by African-American and Latinos women. (Enjoyment pgs. 337-341) Women are becoming very successful as playwrights.
Just like the War on Drugs with the cartel in Mexico and the increase of the violence that's perpetuated against women in Mexico, "Sexual violence against women as a side effect of Civil War in Africa is for most Americans are remote subject." (Drama pg. 1844) As I may have mentioned in the past that we are so removed from the effects of war imposed upon the citizens of the country that the war is taking place, we here in America can be informed by plays like these. I like plays about social injustice and political subjects that impact people. It provides important information and makes current international policies transparent. It is my belief that American government will only interfere in another countries political climate, if it's to the advantage of the American people.