Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Building on some of the discussion on gender differences from my last post, I came across this interesting scene in the film Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Released in 2016, the film is based on the experiences of journalist Kim Barker whilst working on the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Sadly, the clip doesn’t seem to be on YouTube so I posted a separate link below (apologies for the poor quality).

In synopsis, Barker is accompanying a troop of US marines to a rural Afghan village with the intention of repairing a well. It transpires that this is a regular appointment for the marines who return each week to fix the well after Taliban fighters repeatedly destroy it. Yet, after Barker consults with the women of the village, it emerges that each week it is actually they who destroy the well. They explain that they relish the experience of travelling down to the river each morning because it allows them the freedom to be sociable, away from the village and their husbands. The building of a well prevents this, and so they promptly destroy it after each time the soldiers have been.

Although not explicitly concerning Africa, I thought this was a relevant example of how Western attempts to improve sanitation and water provision often make over simplified assumptions about what people want and need. Without a proper contextual understanding, vital axes of difference are missed. In this case, the missed importance of gender roles in water provision leads to a pointless waste of effort.