Is our "help" in the right place? Do we only feel obligated to "save" the Muslim women because of the horrific attack that took place on September 11, 2001? What happened on 9/11 is a very tragic event that should never be forgot and I personally believe that we took the right action to engage in war and to hold those accountable for their actions, however that is beyond the point. But with this war on terror, along came the "saving" of Muslim women. Like we discussed in class do these women need or want saving or is it, "We may want justice for women, but can we accept that there might be different ideas about justice and that different women might want, or choose, different futures from what we envision as best" (Lila Abu-Lughod).
The startling thing to me is why do we think Muslim women need saving, but we are not nearly as involved in women's lives in Africa. I'm not here to say they need more help, I'm just raising the question as to why we shun away from them. "Of the estimated 800,000 Rwandans killed during the 100-day Rwandan genocide...[43.6% were female]"(Cameron Macauley). The hardships of the women in Africa face, "Many women survived only as captives, subjected to rape and torture, while others were permitted to go free"(Macauley).
If "A more productive approach,..., is to ask how we might contribute to making the world a more just place"(Abu-Lughod), how are we remotely close when we blind ourselves from possibly even more tragic situations in the world? Is our focus, efforts, and attention in the right places?
http://www.jmu.edu/cisr/journal/17.1/feature/macauley.shtml
Wow! You hit the point. I totally agree with you. Who are we helping and who are we not is the right question. If we see that these women have a different definition to justice then why are we so ignorant to it. Why do we continue to push our view on them. Instead of helping them, we are giving them more to worry about. I agree with what you said about helping those who are really suffering and are clearly letting people know they need help. By no means do I think we should take this approach as if we are superior to those we help because we are not. We are all humans and some of us, fortunately, have more than we can ask for and must share it with the world. If Africa is a place where women need to be served, then we must do something about shinning light to this problem.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job combining this article and this issue with the topic of last week's classes.
I completely agree with you on this and think that your examples show how misplaced some of our "help" is so well! When we were reading the articles over the hijab and how women were being religiously and emotionally violated by having the hijabs ripped removed from their heads for them and not even having a choice. Although it is easy for us to think that it is unfair for womens faces to be entirely hidden, we must learn to be respectful to different views and religions and remind ourselves not to push our nation's views upon other nations. There are so many women being tormented in other countries (such as Africa) and even in America that need help in order to survive. It shouldn't require a violation on our country by another for us to realize who needs help in the world and to supply it.
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