In philosopher Martha Nussbaum’s theory, she believes everyone has the right to the central capabilities of life. One of the core capabilities is happiness. Happiness is different for everyone. For some it may be a new car, a vacation to Europe, or even a designer handbag. But for those whose lives are filled with financial instability, domestic abuse, and discrimination, happiness is the moments spent laughing, dancing in the kitchen, singing loud to the song on the radio, playing dress up, and putting on makeup. This is the principal lesson of happiness for Sandra in the film Herself, a 2021 feature film presenting the suffering and joy of Sandra’s life situation. Sandra is a victim of domestic abuse which deteriorates her financial stability, and her psychological and physical health. Nussbaum has developed her social theory revolving around her central capabilities. These capabilities are opportunities in life designed to give an individual happiness and success. The film highlights how Sandra’s position in life limits her central capabilities as presented by Nussbaum in her book: Creating Capabilities. Sandra’s capabilities of bodily integrity, emotions, and affiliation are restricted because of her abusive husband. With the help of Women’s Aid, she gains access to these central capabilities as well as other capabilities she did not have before. These include control over her material environment and practical reason. Herself is an extraordinary film that exhibits Nussbaum’s theory of central capabilities, using Sandra’s journey with domestic abuse and poverty.

One of Nussbaum’s proposals is the idea of corrosive disadvantage. Corrosive disadvantage refers to a situation in life that deprives an individual of the ability to express their central capabilities (Nussbaum 44). This situation largely affects an individual in many areas of their life. For example, in the film, domestic violence is a corrosive disadvantage for Sandra. Because of the abuse from her husband, she lacks protection of central capabilities such as bodily integrity and bodily health. Nussbaum believes that bodily integrity includes freedom from sexual and domestic violence and bodily health requires good health and shelter (Nussbaum 33). The scene from the film where Sandra is beaten by her husband while he pulls her hair, punches her face, and stomps on her hand, adequately demonstrates how domestic violence strips her of the above-mentioned central capabilities (Herself).

As a corrosive disadvantage, domestic violence restricts Sandra’s emotional well-being, practical reason, and affiliation. Nussbaum claims that emotional well-being as a central capability includes expression of love and longing for other people, but also includes freedom from fear and anxiety (Nussbaum 33-34). The scene from the kitchen haunts Sandra, and leaves her suffering from emotional trauma and PTSD. There are four times throughout the film where Sandra experiences flashbacks to the kitchen. One of the powerful moments is the scene where Sandra is icing her hand in the bathroom, but she starts to breathe heavily while replaying the scene from the kitchen in her head, resulting in a small panic attack. Scenes like this throughout the film portray how domestic abuse psychologically triggers and degrades an individual causing them to live in a constant wave of fear and anxiety.

Domestic violence inhibits Sandra’s capability of practical reason. According to Nussbaum, practical reason involves the right to participation in “critical reflection about the planning of one’s life” (34). Being trapped in an abusive relationship prevents Sandra from escaping the house. In a marriage, spouses are financially dependent on one another which makes it difficult for Sandra to save money to move out while supporting herself and her two daughters. To escape the house Sandra needs to secretly save money which becomes a big risk if her husband finds out. When Sandra was beaten in the kitchen, this was the cause. Her husband had found the money she taped to the bottom of the seat in the car which sent him into a rage (Herself). Because Sandra cannot express practical reason, she is trapped in this horrible relationship. This scene brilliantly exposes how domestic abuse obstructs practical reason.

Arguably one of the most important central capabilities presented by Nussbaum is affiliation. Affiliation is the idea that an individual can live with concern and empathy for others in social interactions, and have self-respect, non-humiliation, and be treated as a “dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others” (Nussbaum 34). Sandra has a restricted expression of affiliation. Her husband belittles her self-worth, and treats her as a being less than him. He degrades her self-respect and humiliates her in front of their two daughters. Domestic violence hinders Sandra’s access to affiliation which in turn suppresses her other central capabilities such as bodily integrity and practical reason. If she is not treated as an equal human being, she is subjected to abuse and lacks the opportunity to have a say in changing her own life. This is an excellent example of Nussbaum’s term corrosive disadvantage in her theory. As mentioned above, the film highlights how domestic abuse is a corrosive disadvantage given how many different capabilities it restricts from Sandra.

In Nussbaum’s philosophy she brings up internal and combined capabilities. She posits the importance to distinguish between these two because they make a key difference in an individual’s life. Internal capabilities are not fixed, but rather are fluid and dynamic, and can be trained or developed in a social or economic environment (Nussbaum 21). For example, self-confidence and learning to sew are internal capabilities. Sandra gains self-confidence after finally leaving her husband and starting a new life for her and her daughters, with the help of Women’s Aid. Women’s Aid helps Sandra with her legal battle for custody of her daughters and for financial support (Herself). A powerful scene in the film that demonstrates Sandra’s self-confidence is the court scene where she defeats her husband’s attempt to gain custody over their children (Herself). After a brief recess for the judge to go over new evidence brought to her attention, Sandra comes back ready to fight for her life (Herself). After revealing that she saw her youngest daughter see her husband beat her in the kitchen, she turns on the judge with a devastating counter: “You ask me questions like, ‘Why didn’t you leave him?’, but you never ask, ‘Why didn’t he stop?’” (Herself). This was the line that made her win the case. The judge finally changed her perspective and understood where Sandra was coming from. This moment was especially profound for Sandra because she proved to herself, she was confident and could stand up for herself against her abusive husband. Another internal capability Sandra has is learning to build a house. With the help of Aido―a friend to Sandra and project manager― Sandra learns to build her own house to start a new life for her and her daughters. She researches and gathers supplies to design her house within her financial budget (Herself). The film demonstrates how internal capabilities are learned, and how they are a crucial factor to the well-being of an individual’s life.

Nussbaum proposes the concept of combined capabilities. Combined capabilities are the internal capabilities in addition to the social/political/economic conditions that make it possible for an individual to express these capabilities (Nussbaum 22). To make this clear, the film highlights how access to Women’s Aid for Sandra allows her to act upon her internal capabilities. By freeing her from domestic abuse, Women’s Aid allows Sandra to regain confidence and find her self-worth. Additionally, Peggy―the woman Sandra cares for―gives her financial funds and access to property to build her house (Herself). Sandra’s access to Peggy allows her to build her house which is another internal capability she possesses. Through organizations like Women’s Aid and people like Peggy, the film displays how combined capabilities are successful.

Capability security is another concept in Nussbaum’s philosophy that she believes is critical to the well-being of individuals. Capability security is the notion that the government or other organizations should ensure that individuals have permanent access to express their capabilities (Nussbaum 43). In the film, Women’s Aid is a perfect example. Women’s aid gave Sandra permanent access to her bodily integrity by giving her the opportunity to place a restraining order on her husband. Women’s Aid also secured Sandra’s capability for practical reason because she could now plan to build her own house and secure a new living situation for herself and her daughters. Women’s Aid allowed Sandra security to affiliation in regard to freedom from humiliation. Sandra no longer must live in humiliation of her physical abuse in front of her daughters. It is organizations like Women’s Aid that secure the central capabilities.

Another essential term in Nussbaum’s philosophy that the film demonstrates is fertile functioning. Fertile functioning is key to Nussbaum’s explanation of success in applying her capabilities. Fertile functioning refers to a capability that promotes other related capabilities (Nussbaum 44). The film demonstrates how control over one’s environment is a fertile function. For Sandra, once she can have the capability of control over her environment, in terms of access to her own property, she has access to bodily integrity, proper emotions, play, affiliation, and practical reason. By owning her own house, she is not subjected to domestic violence which stripped her of bodily integrity and proper emotions. She lives without fear and anxiety of her husband’s abuse. Sandra has access to express her capability of play in enjoying laughter and fun with her daughters. She also can exhibit affiliation in her own self-respect and freedom from humiliation. She can take pride in owning her own house and be treated as an equal to others. In her own house, Sandra has access to practical reason to make critical decisions in planning her new life. Most importantly, Sandra has the capability of life. She no longer is on the brink of living a life that is not worth living. She found meaning and drive to live her life once again.

At the end of the film, when Sandra and her crew are celebrating the completion of the house, her daughter drags her outside (Herself). Sandra breaks down as she realizes the house is set on fire by her husband (Herself). It is important to touch on this scene to realize that although Nussbaum’s central capabilities are crucial to a successful life, unexpected tragedy can come at any moment. In the ashes of her house, Sandra begins to shovel them away to start with a clean slate (Herself). Sandra’s perseverance is a beaming demonstration of Nussbaum’s central capabilities. Sandra will never let her capabilities slip away from her as quickly as her house did. It is this drive and determination in her soul that is the most precious internal capability of all.

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