Masai Women 1974

The Masai are cattle herders living in the East African rift valley: they grow no crops and are proud of being a non-agricultural people. Cattle are the all-important source of wealth and social status, and Masai love their cattle, composing poems to them. However, it is the men who have exclusive control over rights to cattle, and women are dependent, throughout their lives, on a man – father, husband or son – for rights of access to property. A woman's status as 'daughter', 'wife' or 'mother' is therefore crucial and this film examines with depth and sensitivity the social construction of womanhood in Masai society, concentrating upon women's attitudes to their own lives.