Women Talking: Better Sources About Real People Who Need Help (Part 4)
Read Part 1 here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here. If you have enjoyed this series, please consider sharing it with others.
Those who are not of Old Colony Mennonite descent can be forgiven for thinking that what is presented in Women Talking is a reasonable facsimile of the way the events played out, but for those who are descendants of these types of colonies, the “re-telling” rings more untrue than true. None of this is to minimize the very real problem of sexual abuse among Old Colony Mennonites, which is an ongoing problem that needs to be addressed.
The film had its high points; I was brought to tears several times, but I realized later that this had more to do with my knowledge and connection to the events than the truthfulness of the movie. I am not that far removed from a similar reality. Had my parents’ parents not made the journey to Canada in the 1960s, I could be an Old Colony Mennonite in Mexico or Bolivia today! In some scenes in the movie, it was as if I was looking into the face of my own grandmother. One of my grandmothers spoke only Low German and dressed in Old Colony garb her entire life.
Better Sources
If you are looking for thorough, accurate, and more truthful representations of the story of the people of the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia, I have two recommendations:
1. Jean Friedman-Rudovsky’s name came up often in my research. Her piece at Vice called “The Ghost Rapes of Bolivia” is essential to this story and there is a companion documentary as well.
Ghost Rapes of Bolivia Part 1/2:
Part 2/2
Friedman-Rudovsky has also done some press recently. Here is a recent interview that I found interesting.
2. Cameron Dueck has written an excellent travelogue and memoir called Menno Moto: A Journey Across the Americas in Search of My Mennonite Identity which he published in 2020. Due to COVID, this book received less attention than it should have. If you are interested in a well-written personal account that also includes historical snapshots of the Russian-Mennonite people, this book is a must-read.
Real People Who Need Help
Low German Mennonites who are in Old Colony settlements are a people that I love and also have the privilege of occasionally ministering to. I care about the way they are represented in both fiction and journalism. While Women Talking aspires to give them a voice, it mostly creates a new batch of false perceptions. And while the author’s bent towards compassion for her characters may inspire others’ compassion towards them as well, beyond that I doubt that anyone in the colonies will be directly concretely helped by the book.
The release of the movie and its subsequent Oscar win is bringing needed attention to the problem of sexual abuse in the colonies, but awareness is not action. However, there are real ways to help.
The conference to which my church belongs - the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference - has invested heavily, in terms of both money and people in that area of the world. Over a period of many years, we have set up refuge settlements where Old Colony people can and do go to start a new life after being excommunicated from one of the many colonies. When they are excommunicated, they are cut off from their families and livelihoods, but in these new settlements, they can obtain land and a new livelihood, as well as education and access to the outside world.
I have visited both the colonies and these new settlements. In the colonies, you see the trauma of abuse on the faces of the residents. In the new settlements, you see people who are recovering from abuse and finding new life - physical, spiritual, and economic - in an environment that is designed for their liberation, ongoing renewal, flourishing, and self-governance.
I didn’t start writing about this intending to make any sort of pitch, but if you are inclined to contribute to our efforts in Bolivia amongst Low German Old Colony Mennonites, you can do that here: http://emmc.ca/donate. (If you give, just indicate that you’d like the money to go to “MEM: Bolivia Budget”.)
Final Words
Mary Gaitskill writing about Women Talking asks (and answers): “Do I enjoy being so aggravated with a film on an important subject that I care about? I do not!” I feel the same.
Miriam Toews is a gifted writer and a professional novelist who deserves the accolades she’s been given for her writing talent. But Women Talking seems like an effort to press North American liberal progressive values into ultra-conservative South American Mennonite culture. It is a piece of writing with a modern agenda that is decked out in pre-modern garb. The result is more a work of inventive fantasy than of fictionalized reality.
But don’t let the attention you’ve given to this book and movie go to waste. Bolivia might seem a world away, but it is only a one-day journey south. If you’re interested in the work being done among the Old Colony people there, you can participate in an exposure tour. But be warned: your heart may be captured by what you see and you might decide to stay, as several of my friends have. Go anyway. Take the risk.
Who knows… I might end up there one day myself.
Read Part 1 here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here.