White men saving brown women from brown men
August 6, 2008
Oh, this is just incredible. This, too. And this.
According to the articles, women are blowing themselves up because the big bad Muslim men are forcing them into it by brainwashing them into avenging their dead husbands/children or by raping them (“this would leave her with no choice but to end her life”) or by threatening to kill their husbands/children unless they become suicide bombers. They are treated merely as weapons, a means to an end, and nothing more. So, naturally the US has taken upon itself to ’save’ these helpless women (sound familiar?). And I just love how they are going about it- y’know, being all respectful of Islam and tolerant of Muslim cultural sensibilities. It’s hypocritical and this selective arrogation of feminism and concern for Muslim women (a commonality in imperialistic discourses) sickens me.
- F
F
Sahar
Farah
August 7, 2008 at 1:32 am
Predictably, the European colonial/orientalist mindset seems to find it unfathomable that these women are motivated politically (for resistance is not something the ‘coloniser’ believes its subjects are capable of doing– see Fanon). The fact that many of these women are using this unfortunate method of resistance to express their political objectives against the occupation of their land and the appropriation of their national resources seems too farfetched.
It’s interesting how the gender role is played out within these reports too. You have them being depicted as overtly emotional, angry, irrational (typifying gender constructs of the ‘hysterical female’ incapable of controlling her emotions and of course having no political agenda). This is coupled with the orientlaist depiction of the exotic female other: Like her European counterpart, she is reduced to being emotional and irrational, but also, she is the product of her oppression and incapable of understanding her political existence because she is a woman AND Other. Thus she is the other (non-Western) within the other (woman).
August 9, 2008 at 1:28 am
It appears to be the “women as tools of men” approach, which neglects a lot.
I do think it is legitimate to report on rape and coercion being used to encourage female suicide bombing when tactics like that are being used. However, it should be placed in a much more nuanced context that understands something about female agency. Also, male suicide bomber recruitment tactics should be discussed alongside.
I also find it a bit surprising (to put it politely) that the US military is so “woman-sensitive” since about one third of women in the US military are raped or sexually assaulted by men in the US military. Hardly a shining example of respect for women.
August 9, 2008 at 1:37 am
Correction: I think I’m gonna have to back off my 1/3 stat as I had a look at the US Dept of Defense info that I think my source used and this is the sexual harassment rather than sexual assault figure. Still not great.
August 9, 2008 at 4:00 am
“I do think it is legitimate to report on rape and coercion being used to encourage female suicide bombing when tactics like that are being used”.
Sure, but they’re not being reported in the way you’ve suggested. In fact, these experiences are rare, from what i’ve read on female suicide bombers but are being focused on to mean a norm. My point is, the political implication here is somehow these women are represented in a way which mistakenly shows they lack their own political agenda and in orientalist fashion, a victim of Islamic patriarchy. She therefore has little to no agency.
“Also, male suicide bomber recruitment tactics should be discussed alongside”.
What do you mean?
August 9, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I don’t dispute that the reporting needs to change a lot, but I did want to make the point that it should be reported. But the way it is done now clearly is lazy and ignorant.
I think that if male and female suicide bombing recruitment is discussed together, then it will be clearer that a majority of people probably take the decision to it due to their circumstances and their political response to it (regardless of gender) and that others may be coerced into it, and this could be occurring not only to women, but men also. I think reporting them together would give a more holistic picture that doesn’t divide into men = active women = tools of men.
August 13, 2008 at 1:59 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!