This article, published a few days ago in the New York Times, tells a horrifying tale of women in Afghanistan forced into marriages with abusive husbands or humiliated by in laws who light themselves on fire as a last ditch attempt at suicide. The article is alarming, and for an American audience it reaffirms the belief that Afghan (and for many, by association, Muslim) culture is barbaric and that something must be done to help these women from their situation. I think the article, as our readings for class today outline, serves to reinforce the American government's position and the American military's image as savior and hero with regard to the occupation of Afghanistan. The point of view of this story emphasizes the women's systemic and seemingly unavoidable victimhood. What the reader is forced to take away from this story is that the women have no way of getting out or helping themselves and their only option is to light themselves on fire (subtext=thankfully we have soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan who are fighting to free these women from their enslavement). At one point in the story there is a hint at an opportunity for self empowerment of these women with the passing comment that
"For a very few of the women who survive burnings, whether self-inflicted or done by relatives, the experience is a kind of Rubicon that helps them change their lives. Some work with lawyers who are recommended by the hospital and request a divorce. Most do not."
This is an interesting part of the article, but the topic is dropped in the next sentence that goes on to explicate the trials and horrors of the various sad victims of burning in the hospital. Such a structure says to me that we are not here to discuss the Afghan women who stand up for themselves and work against this oppression, we are only willing to view them as victims.
I have no doubt that the situation of these women is horrific and for most there is no good way out, but the framing of the article serves more to reinforce western stereotypes of women, Muslims and Afghan people than to educate and inform.
Tess you bring up such a good point, I cannot help but respond. Thanks for your insight into the framing of the event. Nothing gets me more upset then the idea that the 'West' is coming to liberate Muslim women. Basically it's a discourse of white feminism that is used to justify murder, genocide, and crimes against humanity. I don't want to be the body liberated that justifies these crimes on my account. I don't think most Muslim women would want that either. Regardless of how debilitating 'Muslim' states can be, we as Muslim women are intrinsically a part of the fabric of Muslim Society. You bomb our villages with Nuclear waste, and you kill us, our husbands, our fathers and brothers. You give us all cancers we cannot cure and die from instead.
ReplyDeleteAgain, nothing upsets me more then to hear White Feminism used to Justify Murder. Thanks for your spin on interpreting the possible motives with this article. These are not 'Just' wars, and Murder is never just, regardless of the complex matrix Muslim women have to face.
I reference the movies we saw a few weeks back with the interviews of the American Soldiers justifying torture and giving White women the reins to run the torture as they please. There is no justification for torture. . . . and White Feminism's so called 'causes' need to take a back seat while the rest of the Muslim world tries living in war torn areas due to US corporate interests disguised/justified as heroic.
Again, I really appreciate the post.
Tess' post reminded me of a summer issue of TIME magazine that was very controversial because of its shocking cover. The magazine showed Aisha, an 18 year old woman whose nose and ears had been cut off by her husband's family. The cover read "What Happens if we leave Afghanistan?"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007238,00.html.
While under Taliban rule women who were accused of committing adultery were stoned to death. If a woman accidentally showed a bare ankle from under her burka she'd be whipped. One woman gave her account of being beaten on the street because she had forgotten to take off her nail polish. This article did what it was supposed to, shock American readers, and draw on their sympathy for these women. I admire Aisha's bravery in telling her story because it gave voice to Afghan women and she was able to come to the U.S. for reconstructive surgery at the Grossman Burn Foundation. Her story reinforces the notion of Afghan women as victims but also shows that these women are able to do something about the situation they are in. I agree that White Feminism is not the right way to go about trying to help, but can we agree that something needs to be done?
I want to end by drawing on another point that one could also argue that Aisha and the other women mentioned throughout the article were exploited for the sake of U.S. war propaganda. The powerful and shocking stories and images were used to form strong feelings and emotion among American against the Taliban, though the same could be done with images of "collateral damage" of Western troops in Afghanistan.