Militarism

In "Chapter 13: Militarism and Violence" from Inequality & Violence in the United States: Causalities of Capitalism, Chasin defines militarism as the "maintenance of a large military establishment that goes far beyond the needs of national defense, the ideas that justify military actions, and the actions themselves." Within the chapter, Chasin takes an in depth look on how militarism in the United States is associated with all three types of violence. She makes a point of how militarism adds to the destruction (over time) of democracy. Militarism makes it almost impossible for a country to be democratic without violence being essential to its success. This is apparent in countries around the world, especially in the United States. The US relies on having a large military, its latest escapades being the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States, as of right now, is in a severe economic recession, and it is apparent how much of the wars and conflicts that we are involved in provide grave downturns for our economic stature. The goal of these conflicts is to bring democracy and freedom to everyone involved, but it, in turn, makes it incredibly difficult for any progress to happen when thousands are dieing from both sides. As of today, April 24, 2009; 4277 United States soldiers have died in Iraq since the 5/1/2003; and in Afghanistan 679 since 2001. These are just military deaths. Contractor deaths in Iraq are 1264; and the number of journalist deaths in Iraq is 139. All together, that equals 6,359 American soldiers and civilians (those being the contractors and journalists) have died. If you go to http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2009.04.html, there is a complete list (along with information about them and a picture) of all those who have died in the Iraq conflict. This is nothing compared to the 1,320,110 Iraqi deaths that is estimated by antiwar.com. The number of total Iraqi deaths can only be an estimate, as there is no actual count or record of how many Iraqis die. I believe that Iraq has become a wasteland, and Saddam Hussein is not necessarily the overlord that created it; the imperialistic, militaristic agenda of the American government is.

Mid-Term with Pictures

1. Food shortage and spreading cholera epidemic further destabilizes Zimbabwe

http://www.thetakeaway.org/media/photologue/photos/cache/zimbabwe_large_image.jpg

In this image, there is a long line of women and children waiting in line to get a chance at getting clean drinking water in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare,. The image gives a look into the troubles that Zimbabwe is infested with, one of them being a lack of clean water for all inhabitants. The image provides a backdrop for the cholera epidemic that hit the country last August and still ravages today, leaving 3,688 dead (http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/02/17/zimbabwe-msf.html?ref=rss). The struggle for power in the country, and extreme division between the rich and poor, and the lack of clean water for all sets a doomsday on the country. In the picture, the poor are the ones who are represented providing not only a backdrop for the cholera epidemic, but also the strict class divides that are present in Zimbabwe today.

2. Hitman: Blood Money

http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/53254/the-most-controversial-video-game-ads-of-all-time-page-2/

In an ad that ran in April 2006 for a PC gaming magazine, sexualized violence is the obvious theme. From the provocative way that the woman is laying, to the bullet wound in her skull to the shoes on her feet, the ad screams sex. She’s in a sexual position that is often construed as “take me now”, giving the viewer a mixed image of what the video game is really about. The woman is meant to be taken over by the men who play this murdering game, and she is used as a ploy to get young males to buy this video game. She is a part of the Dream World, where women are for the taking, mere objects to be used and abused. The header for the ad reads “Beautifully Executed”, making the themes of sex and murder, in this ad, almost synonymous.

3. Well, at Least He Drives a Prius

http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/well-at-least-he-drives-a-prius/673794/

When looking at this ad, it struck me as an ad essentially promoting violence. It shows a man dragging (presumably) a dead body into a lake, with the caption “Well, at least he drives a Prius”. The ad feeds into how society accepts violence, especially when it comes from men. It excuses it because the man drives an environmentally friendly car. This ad was a part of a string of controversial ads that Toyota ran for its Prius car, the other two with more sexual connotations. The ads in general were poor acts on the Toyota Company’s part. I chose this one out of the three because of the blatant violence that was present. At first, I found it mildly amusing, and then I started to think of how the company was making it apparent that they were okay with malicious violence such as murder.

4. No Easter Egg Hunt This Year

http://www.prometheus6.org/send/send/23696

This picture was sent in an email by a Californian mayor to friends that caused a monstrous controversy that lead to him resigning. The picture shows the White house lawn filled with watermelons. The image is blatantly racist and aimed at President Obama. It is stereotyping African Americans, with the age old “black people love watermelon”. I first saw this picture while watching a late night talk show, and was instantly offended. It attacks the president based on his race, and demeans his place in power. With Obama elected, people screamed of the changes that would occur and that finally racially inequality was gone; but insensitive images like this only prove that racial inequality is still a problem in US society. Merely electing a black president is not going to instantly get rid of social inequality when ignorance such as this still plagues people who are in government positions.

Defining Power and Gender

Defining Gender and Power

Gender is not merely the sex of a person, what body parts they have or do not have. Gender is the social construct that all of us grow up with. We are told to behave like a lady, or be a man. Gendering starts when we wake up in the morning and plays out all day long. Most men and women play into the roles, or boxes, of what gender they are supposed to fall into; but some consciously fight against these roles, creating the term gender bending for those who bend the traditional roles of what gender is supposed to be. Gender is defined, socially, by the clothes we wear, the makeup we choose put on (or choose not to), the way we hold ourselves and the way we are seen by others.


Power has many different levels. There are different types, and different ways that power is executed. There can be physical power, the power of words and even power of emotions. Power can be seen as muscles, or large stature, but it is also the ability to convince people to believe what you want them to, or has the capacity to get someone to do something that you want them to. Power is often unequal in almost every relationship, whether it is between friends, an intimate relationship, or in a family.

GROUP NUMBER TWO!!! read me :)

Here is the stuff she put up in class... Sorry it took so long
Wednesday

• 1 Presenter
• Groups: Writers/Scribes
• Observers (A): Write, compose and organized narrative of your detail
• Observers (B):Write, compose and organized narrative of your detail

Appoint 1+ Observers

A.: Who Will Analyze:

1. Challenges in defining power and gender
2. Resistance among members of group
3. Agreement making in group

B.:Who's Job it is to:

1. Note the gaps: Who speaks? Who Listens?
2. Who Organizes: The flow of conversation, the flow of knowledge
3. What are the constraints on producing a "coherent" narrative of gender and power
4. What are people's expectations in the group?

Patriarchal Terrorism

The phrase "patriarchal terrorism" is used by sociologist Michael P. Johnson as a way to conceputalize the violence by male figures in some families. Growing up, my best friend, lets call her Jane, was abused by her father on a daily basis. Being nine, I did not quite understand what the bruises and burn marks meant. As I got older, our famlilies (being military families) grew apart and about six months ago, I got a chilling call from my mom. My best friends mother was in the hospital from a deadly beating that she got from her husband. Even to this day, I do not understand how she stayed for those ten years in a relationship that was completely belittling and physically harmful to both her and her children. While reading Chapter 11: Interpersonal Gender Violence, my complete relationship with Jane and the rest of her family came to mind. The patriarchal terrorism that played out in that family relied heavily on the general idea that you are not suposed to interfere with other people's households. While thinking about why Jane's mother did not leave, I read that minimally, 50% of women in an abusive household leave. The reasons why are definitely hard to pinpoint. But I think the fact that affordable housing today is so hard to find, especially for women, domestic violence (if the woman decides to leave) becomes a cause for homelessness for women, could play a part. I think that if we really wanted domestic violence, and the patriarchal terrorism to end, then we would help those women who put themselves out because they are in danger. After reading this chapter, I went to the The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World and looked at the chapters on Domestic Violence and looked at the figures for the United States. 23 women a week are killed by intimates. Thinking of Jane's mom, and how lucky she is to be alive, of all women murdered between 1976 and 2005, 43% were by an intimate. 22%-35% of women who visit a hopsital Emergency Room do so because of domestic violence. Sometimes the enemy is not overseas hiding in a cave, but rather in your best friends bedroom, beating her until she is black and blue. The whole world turning a blind eye, because what happens in a family is a personal matter, and you just do not intrude on the lives of others.

Lyrics versus Images-Dreamworlds 2

While watching Dream Worlds 2, the videos that were all crammed into that film I had seen before. Some of the words to the songs played out in my head, distracting me from the content of the movie. This brought up an interesting point to me. Since birth, I had been shown these images, but never thought twice about them-until now. For me, I think that the words of the songs, whether they be lust, love, or just plain old bumping and grinding, take away from the deliberate meaning 0f the images portrayed. In my mind, the rump shaking and scantily clad women fit into what the music artist was talking (or singing) about, making it almost okay for the women to be portrayed in this way. If a women is doing all these things, even participating in a little girl-on-girl action, but the artist claims that it's all for the love baby, then its smiled upon because it is good to see a nice pretty girl snag a good man. That is the ultimate goal. To get married and have lots and lots of babies who will then keep the cycle going... circle of life. While this is all fine and well, the means by how we accomplish this goal worry me. Music videos, the very same in Dreamworlds 2, tell women that to get a man (and to keep him) you must be thin, have amazing hair, be able to dance like nobody's business, and of course, be drop dead gorgeous. Of course, I disagree with all of this. This videos are merely a dreamworld, these women are the minority of the female population, and because of the "respect" mainstream culture has for these music video divas, they, the minority, have a huge impact on both the female and male population.

Women and Domestic Violence

When I opened The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World to chapters 7-9, I was hit with bright colors and numbers... Many many numbers. I started to read the two pages in my western, left to right way. The startling numbers jumped off of the page; instantly making me compare the numbers of so many killed a year... or a week... to that nations total population. I read the little snippet about the percentage of how many women believe it is okay for "a husband to beat his wife for one or more specific reasons-burning food..."(28). For Egypt, 94% of women believe that it is acceptable for husbands to beat the wife. The other day I was talking to a friend of mine, who is half Egyptian, and another friend of Mexican descent. I brought up this fact, and the first girl replied to me, agreeing with the fact. It startled me; but I thought about how she plays the role of the stereotypical woman. She believes that women do belong in the kitchen, she is often taken advantage of (not in a sexual way) by male friends of ours. The oppression of women goes both ways- women often accept it. I kept on reading and the next eye opening facts were talking about so-called "honor killings". The mere idea of a woman being killed just because they were sexually inappropriate for that specific society. The highest number was in Pakistan for the year 2006, with 4,100+. And then it kept on going... The number of women killed by Domestic Violence... the number of cases reported... And I felt my heart go out to women who are defenseless and who society has deemed as lesser beings. Each day women are killed by husbands... boyfriends... stalkers... step fathers.... whomever, merely because the male views them as something to be used, something that when they are done or if it doesn't work properly, they can just be thrown away.