Rabbit-Proof Fence Analysis

1931, the half-caste act is in full effect leaving no mixed race child safe from the government. The film Rabbit-Proof Fence tells the tale of three girls who were directly affected by the act. The three girls on the journey were wanted because of their mixed race status. Australia’s dominate culture felt threatened by the half-caste children, which is why the half-caste act was put into effect. Australian’s plan to secure the dominate culture was to assimilate the half-caste children by taking them from their tribes and putting them into camps where they would be taught and live by the ways of the dominate culture. What I found astounding was how long the half-caste act was in effect, the act lasted from 1886 to 1970. The film Rabbit-Proof Fence showed strong anthropological themes of paradigms and social justice. The assimilation of the half-caste aboriginals is prevalent throughout the film due to the mixed …show more content…
Initially, when the girls were first being taken away from their tribe, one of the mothers was yelling that her daughter was going to marry somebody hoping that their pleas would change the kidnapper’s minds. Unfortunately, their pleas don’t change the kidnapper’s minds, but the act shows in the aboriginal culture getting married is a big deal in their culture. Yet, at the same time the film defies the female gender roles. In some cultures, including western culture, women are seen as; hating the outdoors, stay at home mothers, less intelligent than men, and are associated with housework. Rabbit-Proof Fence defied these gender norms with the main characters, who were all girls, by them surviving in an impossible land with next to no help. The girls not only made this incredible journey once, but they made the journey twice with their own children. The perseverance and determination that the girls had in order to complete this journey twice is beyond the stereotypical