Where to begin? Cynthia Enloe is a raging feminist whose opinion ofglobal politics is so slanted and inappropriate that her argumentdoesn't deserve to be considered academic. She claims that the sexualrelationship between a diplomat and his wife, which she so vulgarlydefines as 'unpaid services', are essential for the man to createpolicy. She claims that soldiers need sexual services as much as theyneed military hardware. This doesn't even make sense. Did Cynthiaever interview a man in her research? An academic argument is invalidunless it offers both sides of an issue and then proves one wrong,empirically and completely. We are on the eve of a woman President inthe most powerful nation in the world. There are women in themilitary, and military bases aren't set up for their proximity tobrothels. This isn't Vietnam anymore.
Cynthia is bold enough to claim that women like Margaret Thatcher havebeen successful because they learned to "think like a man". Perhapsthey were successful because of their intellect, leadership abilitiesand personability. Simply being a woman as well can help a womanachieve power status. Today, maybe a female President is what weneed; who's slight of touch and diplomacy may be less "masculine".This excludes, of course, Condoleezza, who really is a man. She iscorrect though, in stating that it is harder for a woman to excel to aposition of power or political influence. The system perpetuatesitself to keep women down and keep men at the helm. But her argumentof this fact is limited to a few passing sentences.
What is femininity but the polar opposite of masculinity. They areequally destructive and unequal. There must be a balance! The role ofgender in political decision-making must be removed just as religionwas way back when. Positions must be appointed based on a candidate'sperformance. Women have all the same opportunities growing up as men:socially, academically, athletically, etc. They are just as capableof achieving greatness. Perhaps feminists should shift their focusfrom politics to the media, where the main offenses of genderinequality occur, where women are degraded to sexual equipment andunhealthiness is sexy.
Cynthia Enloe takes her argument so far as to state: "Male officialswho make foreign policy might prefer to think in reality they haveself-consciously designed immigration, labor, civil service,propoganda and military bases policies so as to control women." Whatare you talking about? Cynthia Enloe does not suggest a process forchange, only the need for change itself. This conclusion does apiss-poor job of describing the feminist position. It was notrational or academic, but purely rambling. I believe it isinteresting to consider the role of gender in internationalpolitics, but this article did not do the issue justice. HopefullyHooper will clear things up for me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I think Enloe’s description of those ‘unpaid services’ was supposed to show how the woman currently fits into the political world because she does not fill the role of policy-making. I think she was undermining her argument though, because it’s narrow-minded to view female sexuality as a service on the part of the woman to promote policy or military capacity. These ‘unpaid services’ are performed for personal satisfaction as well, and I think if she’s going to single out the sexual power of a woman, she should demonstrate it as a tool for a woman to succeed on her own, not to better the performance of a man. (No, I’m not saying she should tactlessly/physically use her body, but if a little attractiveness is going to help you achieve your goals, there’s no shame in embracing it!)
Post a Comment