Comments on: What is this “protection” of which you speak?

By: anonymousbw

anonymousbw — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:58:03 +0000

Deborah, coming from a small Southern town myself, I admit I get a little annoyed when someone from a metropolitan Northern area portrays a Southern town as especially backward as if Northern places are so above bigotry and hold a monopoly on Enlightenment when they don’t! Although some Southern small towns don’t help when they do stuff like this.But like you, I feel this incident well deserved the bad press it got. To be fair there are larger cities with problems of sex,gambling,etc much worse than this, but if the city is like you say-it was all there to see with the establishments. The older I get, I find people amusing ANYWAY that ALWAYS act like “unwholesome” don’t usually happen in their towns/neighborhoods/etc. Folks do stuff all the time-and you never know what folks do behind closed doors!

By: abw

abw — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 05:34:08 +0000

Karnythia, I understood what you meant from jump but I am glad you made it clear-even if you were tired. Fat Louie-I can see your point though since rape is often portrayed as being caused due to the appearance of the person raped.

By: Abortion as art. Or maybe it’s art as art. Jury’s still out. « zinepersephone

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 07:10:48 +0000

[...] do not own their bodies. Women’s bodies are frequently seen as just another battle ground. Women in the armed services have more to fear from fellow soldiers than they do from combat. Women in this country have been [...]

By: Fat Louie

Fat Louie — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:42:03 +0000

Yes, indeed it did. I was sure there was some personal experience behind that particular formulation, so thanks for clearing that up. I was just concerned that the rape = power thing might be getting obscured behind the rape = sexual attraction thing. Because if you look at the numbers of sexual assaults in the military something has to be happening to the butch women too…. And of course trans men also get raped (although not in the military, where they are not allowed).

Thank you for sharing your stories.

By: karnythia

karnythia — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:06:51 +0000

@ Fat Louie

My experience was that women who coded as butch were treated as one of the guys. That doesn’t mean they were immune to comments or some forms of harassment, but during my stint all of the women I knew that were attacked were relatively feminine in their appearance off-duty. This may have had much to do with the high number of misogynists I seemed to serve with (lots and lots of males in my MOS, very few women and many of these guys were people I really thought had no business outside of a jail cell) that felt that the women weren’t pulling their own weight when it came to our duties if they happened to look like they were female while they did it. This is not to say that these women were seeking to draw male attention by their dress or demeanor so much as they were trying to be themselves and be in the military at the same time. Did that make any sense? I’m answering while sleepy and I’m not sure I’m expressing myself clearly.

By: Friday Links Roundup « Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog

Friday Links Roundup « Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:54:59 +0000

[...] What is this “protection” of which you speak? “Sexual assaults are frequent, and frequently ignored, in the armed services.” I have this insane urge to email Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA)and say “Duh!” This is old old news, but every few years someone rediscovers the reality that rapists join the military and we get a bunch of op-eds and exhortations for the military to do more to protect women. […]Want to hear something shocking? Putting on that uniform does not automatically make the person in it a decent human being. Much like active pedophiles seek out positions that give them access to children? Rapists, abusers, and your run of the mill misogynistic assholes seeks out the military because it’s a place where being hypermasculine is rewarded. And as long as you’re not too careless you can get away with hurting women every day without fear of repercussions. The Army cracks down harder on drug smuggling than it does on rape and spousal abuse. [...]

By: Fat Louie

Fat Louie — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:51:41 +0000

Pardon me, ‘express intention.’ English would help. Or even better, ‘I’m sure you have something in mind for that paragraph which is not what I read into it, please let me know what it was.’

Thank you and peace.
-FL

By: Fat Louie

Fat Louie — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:48:34 +0000

This is a post that draws attention to a major, ongoing crisis in military culture which needs to be mentioned again and again.

But this is how I read the last paragraph: “military rape happens primarily to stereotypically feminine women, who seek to draw the positive/negative attention of men by expressing their feminine gender roles, which include ‘flirting’ and playing wife.’ ”

Before I comment I want to know if that was the expressed intention or not, because I don’t want to step on any toes.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:41:21 +0000

Karnythia,

First, thank you for your service to our country.

Having worked in Domestic Violence and having a brother in the military, I have all sorts of conflicting emotions when I read articles like these. I also have a close friend who has been a chaplain in the Army for 20 years – he has told me everything ranging from the widespread substance abuse to the physical and sexual abuse.

My friend is an example of the good people in military who are overrun by the problems of others while trying to foster an environment of sanity, compassion, and sober thinking. He is going to retire at 38.

I must echo Ico’s words by saying that I, too, think this is not old news to many people.

Thanks for bringing the spotlight on this issue. I have often said that we must embrace what is best about our (country, military, etc.) while at the same time be willing to honestly examine to the worst.

Adam

By: Bq

Bq — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 04:16:22 +0000

Yeah, I’m always taken aback at how naive people are about the link between militarism and rape. They seem to think that American soldiers somehow are the exception to this dynamic. Or they don’t understand this dynamic at all because they’re completely clueless about the history of warfare and the phrase “rape and pillage” doesn’t mean anything real to them.

Nojojojo, would it be very impertinent or risky to be honest with your students if they’re having conversations on your class time?