Monday, November 29, 2010
Response for 11/30
After completely these readings, I couldn't help but feel as though the men in described in these readings couldn't help their sexual, aggressive, or abusive desires and that by default women were victims of their lack of self-control. In the New York Times articles about female soldiers in Iraq, it is awesome that so many women are now joining the military, but I find it troubling that it seems as if they are still not being treated equally to their male counter parts. It is unfortunate that they are being subjected to sexual harassment or worse, rape, while in this very confined and isolated area of their army base. Furthermore, it is frightening that many of these affected women feel as if they cannot report abusive for fear of not being believed or receiving an dishonorable discharge. It is a very legitimate fear to have that a higher ranking officer who was the perpetrator would be believed over a woman in a lesser position. I also couldn't help but thinking of "Don't ask Don't tell" when reading these articles. A lot of the arguments behind this law is to prevent "distractions" and camaraderie on military bases. But from what is seems like all this sex is happening and no one is being "distracted." Additionally, it also seems like allowing for the sexual abusive of female soldiers would taint some of the camaraderie. It was also stated that there is some occurrence of rapes among males, but is rarely reported for fear of one's sexuality being questioned. But it is because of this law that men who are raped are afraid to report it, further leading to a degree of discomfort on these military bases. These same ideals can be applied to the readings in the Curious Feminist. Both articles somewhat depict militarily involved men (whether Serb or American) as being unable to repress their sexual and aggressive desires, and therefore take it out on local women. What does this say about our faith in our military??
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I think Sara brings up a very alarming point with her post. Beyond the fact that so much sexual harassment and assault goes unreported because of the intimidation factor, we have essentially created a "gray area of law" with our military. It is against the law to murder, but that is what we train our soldiers to do. When you enable an individual to violate one of the first and principle laws in society then add in the additional factor of them being outside the U.S., or their home, they feel that they are above the rules. This lawlessness is what we as a society have witnessed in situations such as that in the abuse at Abu Ghraib. The military does not fit into society because they effectively are not a part of society when they are off in war. This separation is apparent in their actions and lack of consideration to the law.
ReplyDeleteI think Sarah and Matt bring up valid points that the military essentially is not subjected to the same laws that govern citizens of the United States. These articles point out the countless occassions in which soldiers are not punished for sexual harrassment, assault, or rape and instead, the victims are discharged for speaking up. This is problematic when we consider that US law prohibits these types of attrocities from taking place and therefore ought to be treated the same regardless of where it takes place. If the US military represents America, it ought to heed to the same laws as all US citizens and therefore apply the same justice in cases in which these laws are violated. Women soldiers should not feel as though speaking out about their experiences of sexual violence will lead to job loss and early discharge, another injustice on top of traumatic assault and harrassment.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the government continues to spoil the military men, by not punishing them for raping this will eventually cause gender distrust and chaos within the military. Many of the men that are proven guilty are getting away with these crime because of the obvious patriarchal hierarchy that exists in the military. I also agree with Matt when he points out how "the military does not ft into society because they effectively are not part of society when they are off in war" which goes to show how these military men are not receiving the full punishment/responsibility for their actions since they are no longer in that equal treatment zone catered by American society, they are now in other grounds. Not only are these men in a completely different country but the military in itself is a whole different playing field/society ruled by men.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt in that since we give soldiers the right to do something against the law; kill, does this mean that they are above the law? That they can do anything they want without regards to rules or regulations? Absolutely not, however, some may think so. I think that the sexual assault and discrimination towards women in the military is extremely alarming and something that should be handled immediately. We finally have women joining the army and going overseas to fight for our freedom and what happens? They get raped and assaulted and they can't do anything about it? This goes back to all the class discussions we had on silencing. This clearly shows me that our military system plays a key role in the patriarchal society we all take part in every single day.
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