Negotiating Precarity and Gendered Experience in Buladó (2020): A Feminist Reading of Identity and Belonging

Written by:Dylan Veerbeek – Transnational Literature Essay Blogpost

Introduction

The 2020 Curaçaoan film Buladó, directed by Eché Janga, presents a coming-of-age story that explores identity, family conflict, spirituality, and belonging within the cultural landscape of Curaçao. At its center is Kenza, a young girl who grows up between two contrasting worlds represented by the men who guide her: her grandfather Weljo, who embodies spirituality and connection to ancestral traditions, and her father, who represents rationality, authority, and a more modern worldview. Through Kenza’s perspective, the film explores not only personal development but also broader questions concerning social vulnerability, cultural identity, and gendered experience.

One of the central concepts through which Buladó can be analyzed is precarity. In the context of Curaçao and the Papiamentu language, the idea of prekaridat refers to experiences of insecurity, instability, and uncertainty. This does not only concern economic hardship, but also emotional, cultural, and social vulnerability. Kenza’s life is shaped by unstable family structures and conflicting expectations, making her search for identity a negotiation between different forms of precarity.

This essay argues that Buladó demonstrates how precarity shapes gender identity and belonging, while its focus on Kenza’s perspective allows for a feminist reading through Cynthia Freeland’s framework. Furthermore, Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of lived experience and Johanna Leinonen’s understanding of gender as a social structure reveal how Kenza’s experience is shaped by gendered expectations that differ fundamentally from those of the male characters (de Beauvoir 9–25; Leinonen 46–59). Through Kenza’s journey, the film shows that identity is not formed independently but through social structures, cultural traditions, and unequal power relations.

Precarity and Prekaridat in Buladó

Precarity describes a condition of uncertainty in which individuals lack stability, security, or control over their circumstances. Although the term is often associated with economic insecurity, it can also describe social and emotional instability. In Buladó, precarity is visible through Kenza’s fragmented family situation and the tension between different forms of knowledge and authority.

Kenza lives in a world where two competing perspectives shape her understanding of reality. Her grandfather represents spiritual knowledge, ancestral traditions, and a connection to the past, while her father represents logic, modernity, and control. Neither perspective is presented as completely correct or incorrect. Instead, the conflict between them reflects a larger struggle over identity and belonging.

The concept of prekaridat is especially relevant because Kenza’s uncertainty is not only personal but connected to her environment. As a young girl growing up in Curaçao, she must navigate cultural expectations, family tensions, and gender roles. Her vulnerability comes from existing between different worlds. She is not simply searching for personal freedom; she is trying to understand where she belongs within a society shaped by history, tradition, and social structures.

The symbolism of the flying fish in the film reinforces this idea. The flying fish represents freedom, movement, and the ability to rise above difficult circumstances. Like the fish, Kenza learns to move between different realities instead of choosing only one. Her identity develops through adaptation rather than through complete separation from her surroundings.

Cynthia Freeland’s Feminist Framework and Female Perspective

A feminist film analysis focuses on questions of representation, power, agency, and perspective. Cynthia Freeland argues that feminist approaches to film examine how gender is represented and how narratives position characters within systems of power (Freeland). Rather than only asking whether women are present in a film, feminist analysis investigates whether female characters are given complexity, independence, and their own perspectives.

Through this framework, Buladó becomes significant because the film centers Kenza’s experience. Although the major conflicts are often represented through male characters, the audience experiences these conflicts through Kenza’s perspective. She observes, questions, and interprets the world around her. This creates a shift away from a purely male-centered narrative.

The male characters possess authority in different ways. Her father has social authority through his role as a parent and police officer, as well as through his belief in rationality and order. Her grandfather has symbolic authority through spirituality and cultural tradition. However, Kenza exists between these forms of male authority. The film does not simply portray her as someone who must follow one of these perspectives; instead, it shows her developing her own understanding.

From Freeland’s perspective, this challenges traditional representations of female characters as passive figures whose identities are defined by male characters. Kenza’s development demonstrates agency because she actively negotiates the influences surrounding her. Her story is not about becoming independent by rejecting her culture or family, but by creating her own relationship with them.

This can be seen in two contrasting scenes. In one scene, Kenza is underneath a car repairing something, and her father comments on the unusual nature of a girl her age being capable of such work. This moment challenges traditional expectations of femininity because Kenza occupies a space associated with masculine labor. However, this contrasts with the scene in which Kenza puts on her deceased mother’s jewelry, connecting her to a more traditional feminine identity.

Rather than presenting these moments as contradictions, the film suggests that Kenza’s identity exists between these categories. She does not completely reject traditional femininity, nor does she simply adopt masculine-coded behavior. Instead, she creates an identity that combines different influences.

A possible counterargument is that Buladó still places much of its conflict around male characters. The father and grandfather dominate the ideological struggle, which could suggest that Kenza’s story remains dependent on male perspectives. While this criticism has some validity, the film’s focus on Kenza’s emotional and psychological development ultimately changes the meaning of this conflict. The male characters represent competing systems, but Kenza is the person who experiences and transforms these systems.

Simone de Beauvoir and the Concept of Lived Experience

Simone de Beauvoir’s feminist philosophy provides another important framework for understanding Kenza’s position. In The Second Sex, de Beauvoir argues that women’s experiences are shaped by social structures rather than only biological differences. Her argument that “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” emphasizes that gender is created through social expectations and cultural practices (de Beauvoir 9–25).

The concept of lived experience is essential because people do not experience the world in an identical way. Social categories such as gender influence how individuals move through society, what expectations are placed upon them, and what opportunities are available to them.

This idea can be applied directly to Kenza. The male characters around her have different forms of freedom and authority because of their gender positions. Her father and grandfather are allowed to represent knowledge, decision-making, and control. Kenza, however, must negotiate her identity within the expectations placed upon her as a young woman.

Her experience is therefore different from theirs. While her father and grandfather debate which worldview should dominate, Kenza must live with the consequences of these competing perspectives. She experiences the emotional consequences of family conflict and cultural uncertainty.

The mechanic scene demonstrates this tension. Kenza’s ability to repair the car can be interpreted as an expression of independence and resistance against traditional gender expectations. However, it can also be viewed as the result of growing up surrounded by male figures and lacking a traditional maternal guide. Both interpretations reveal that Kenza’s identity is shaped by her circumstances.

Johanna Leinonen: Gender as a Social Structure

Johanna Leinonen’s understanding of gender further develops this analysis by viewing gender as a social structure that organizes relationships, identities, and power (Leinonen 46–59). Gender is not simply an individual characteristic; it influences how people are positioned within society.

In Buladó, gender structures the relationship between Kenza and the men around her. Her father and grandfather both occupy positions of authority, but Kenza’s position requires negotiation. She must learn how to exist within a world where older male figures define many available paths.

However, the film also shows that gender roles are not fixed. Kenza gradually challenges the expectations placed upon her. She does not simply inherit the beliefs of either male figure. Instead, she combines different influences and develops her own identity.

The contrast between “Mechanic Kenza” and “Jewelry Kenza” demonstrates this process. These scenes show that identity does not need to exist within a strict opposition between masculine and feminine. Kenza creates a version of herself that exists between traditional categories.

Conclusion

Buladó presents a complex exploration of identity, vulnerability, and gender through the perspective of Kenza. By examining the film through the concept of prekaridat, Cynthia Freeland’s feminist framework, Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of lived experience, and Johanna Leinonen’s understanding of gender, it becomes clear that Kenza’s journey represents more than personal growth. It reflects the broader ways in which social structures shape individual experiences.

The film demonstrates that precarity is not only about material insecurity but also about uncertainty surrounding identity, belonging, and cultural position. Kenza’s experience differs from those of the male characters because gender influences how she interacts with the world and how the world responds to her.

Ultimately, Buladó suggests that identity is not discovered in isolation; it is created through relationships, histories, and struggles over meaning. Kenza does not escape the world that shapes her. Instead, she learns how to move within it — like the flying fish after which the film is named, finding freedom not by leaving the water behind, but by learning how to rise above it and transform between different worlds.

Bibliography

Bordwell, David, and Noël Carroll. Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.

de Beauvoir, Simone. “Inleiding.” In De Tweede Sekse, 9–25. Bijleveld, 2018.

Freeland, Cynthia. “Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films.” In The Philosophy of Horror.

Janga, Eché, dir. Buladó. 2020.

Leinonen, Johanna. “Gender.” In Research Handbook on the Sociology of Migration, edited by Giuseppe Sciortino, Martina Cvajner, and Peter J. Kivisto, 46–59. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024.