Transnational Aid

Transnationalism is a movement that is relatively new on the global sphere but nevertheless, it is still very important. This movement has been very significant to feminism because it has made this theory more global and has given awareness to many more people, focusing on women. Transnationalism allows women to network easier between one another on a transnational scale (Moghadam 293). With this new movement, women’s organizations, as well as feminist organizations, can easily communicate with one another, allowing them to be on the same page. If communication was more difficult and took longer to do, because the interconnectedness of the world war more difficult, then feminist transnationalism would more at a much slower progress on the way to achieving their universal goals. If the movement were to continue to move slowly, the idea and passion of everyone involved may lose momentum, and possibly die out over time because no progress was being made.

            Through transnationalism feminism, countless acts have been done for the greater good of humanity. Women give humanitarian aid because they are able to connect with one another across borders (Moghadam, 295). Humanitarian work is very crucial for the ability for the world to progress as a whole. Aid does not only give supplies, medical attention and as well as other things but an important thing that is given is knowledge. Through aid, knowledge for women is given as a result of transnationalism, and this information can be great value. Transnationalism feminism can show women rights that they deserve and should fight for, as well as the knowing that there are people who will support you in the journey for fighting for your rights.

            Transnational feminism can be great for the expansion of feminism and for the people that this movement gives aid to. It can cause problems because some people, focusing on women, may not want the aid, even though, in Western culture, we believe that they do need of life. Our ideas of what we consider to be true and right may be different from the people who we are trying to give aid too, causing problems and conflict. This can lead to difficulties with connecting and networking with countries, causing setbacks with transnationalism. 

Moghadam, Valentine M. “Transnational Activism.” Gender Matters in Global Politics: A Feminist Introduction to International Relations. Shepherd, Laura J. ed. NY: Routledge, 2010. 292-306.

The Necessity of Technology

In the Western world, most, if not everyone uses technology. The type of society that we live in, technology affects our everyday lives, whether it is on the way to or at work, going to school, entertainment, it is a daily function. Technology is a great asset and can make our lives easier and more pleasurable. Unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone. In many counties, mainly third world countries, technology does not play such a large role, if any role at all. The simple technologies that we take for granted each and every day, people of poorer countries may not see or use in their lifetime. Cellphones, televisions, DVDs and computers are what most people see as a necessity to function and stay connected to society, are viewed as luxuries in many countries and are only used my the wealthy and elite.

            Though third world countries are less advanced and familiar with technologies, women in these countries face an even more disadvantage. Statistics state that 300 million women less than men have cellphones (Global Women’s Forum). This can be seen as a direct correlation to women’s inequality on a global scale as well as income levels, women being paid less than men. As a result of this, women are unable to afford the same technologies that men can. For women, these technologies can be life changing, possibly save lives, make women’s everyday work easier, and so much more. In relation to the above statement, technologies can be anything from a cell phone to new, more advanced, farm equipment, just a simple form of transportation, such as a bus or a car.

            A cellphone can be crucial for women in less economic advanced countries. With relation to a women’s health, many complications can occur during the birth of a child, which can cause serious problems or death for the mother or the child. A simple cellphone can allow women to call for a midwife, which in turn could save lives (Global Women’s Forum). This simple form of technology can allow for such great and safe measures for women and countries should strive to try and make the simple technology more accessible. For our Western society, technologies are in our everyday life, they come and go and quickly change. Perhaps we could set up a more prominent recycling system; instead of throwing away old technology devices, we donate them to a program that gives them to third world countries. Though like most things, that is easier said than done. 

Global Women‟s Forum: Global Women 2020~ Challenges and Priorities For the Next Decade” http://media.elliott.gwu.edu/video/122

The Necessity of Technology

In the Western world, most, if not everyone uses technology. The type of society that we live in, technology affects our everyday lives, whether it is on the way to or at work, going to school, entertainment, it is a daily function. Technology is a great asset and can make our lives easier and more pleasurable. Unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone. In many counties, mainly third world countries, technology does not play such a large role, if any role at all. The simple technologies that we take for granted each and every day, people of poorer countries may not see or use in their lifetime. Cellphones, televisions, DVDs and computers are what most people see as a necessity to function and stay connected to society, are viewed as luxuries in many countries and are only used my the wealthy and elite.

            Though third world countries are less advanced and familiar with technologies, women in these countries face an even more disadvantage. Statistics state that 300 million women less than men have cellphones (Global Women’s Forum). This can be seen as a direct correlation to women’s inequality on a global scale as well as income levels, women being paid less than men. As a result of this, women are unable to afford the same technologies that men can. For women, these technologies can be life changing, possibly save lives, make women’s everyday work easier, and so much more. In relation to the above statement, technologies can be anything from a cell phone to new, more advanced, farm equipment, just a simple form of transportation, such as a bus or a car.

            A cellphone can be crucial for women in less economic advanced countries. With relation to a women’s health, many complications can occur during the birth of a child, which can cause serious problems or death for the mother or the child. A simple cellphone can allow women to call for a midwife, which in turn could save lives (Global Women’s Forum). This simple form of technology can allow for such great and safe measures for women and countries should strive to try and make the simple technology more accessible. For our Western society, technologies are in our everyday life, they come and go and quickly change. Perhaps we could set up a more prominent recycling system; instead of throwing away old technology devices, we donate them to a program that gives them to third world countries. Though like most things, that is easier said than done. 

Global Women‟s Forum: Global Women 2020~ Challenges and Priorities For the Next Decade” http://media.elliott.gwu.edu/video/122

Gendered Peacekeeping

The time after war when peacekeeping missions are deployed is very crucial for the rebuilding of a country. When a country needs post-conflict reconstruction, it often means that that country is in great need financially, physically, and emotionally. Peacekeeping aid does not always supply these needs to the best of its ability and the people, who suffer as a result of this, are women.

            It may not be taken into consideration that women are immensely affected by conflict and often do not get the help they need. Women are often victims of war crimes such as rape and sexual assault, yet when peacekeeping forces come into a country of conflict, help for these women is rarely, if at all. This is because in many cases, peacekeeping help that is given is usually men and they do not feel comfortable or are unable to deal with this type of situation. Also, women who have been assaulted are often unwilling to consult with men about these issues, as men are the ones that assaulted them in the first place, these women could lack trust in men. It was suggested in Nadine Puechguirbal’s article that “[o]rganizing pre-development gender training for peacekeeping personal” (Puechguirbal, 168). This training could make men more sensitive to the horrors that women in war have going through and may be more equipped to deal with what these women have gone through.

            War is often deemed to be masculine and that could be why it is often the case the mostly men are sent to help with post-conflict reconstruction. When war it thought about, in most people’s minds, people think that it is just men fighting men with big masculine weapons and as a result, it is just men that need peacekeeping aid. It is not often taken into consideration that women play a large part of war, therefor need help after the conflict is over, not just men. Peacekeeping needs to become more gendered, to help everyone and not just men (Puechguirbal, 165).

            War does not just effect or involve men, women play just as much of a role and are just as affected by it. Peacekeeping aids needs to realize this so women get the aid that they need. This will not just help women but the country as a whole: men, women and children. It would not be that difficult to make peacekeeping reconstruction more gendered and the outcome of such changes would be very beneficial.

              Puechguirbal, Nadine. “Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Reconstruction.” Gender Matters in Global Politics: A Feminist Introduction to International Relations. New York: Routledge, 2010. 161-175.

Kenya: Struggling with Trees

Living in the Western world makes me, and I assume most people, take daily things in our lives for granted which in addition, I think has caused us to over consume and become selfish with our need for more. After viewing the film, The Vision of Wangari Maathai, it shows the effects of our selfishness. Western countries go into low income countries in Africa and export their resources for us to use with little regards of how it effects the people and the land that is used to export the items that we require, in this case tea and coffee. While we buy our expensive coffees and teas, it hardly crosses our minds that to get these drinks, people are starving and dying. I imagine that people do not consider where the coffee and teas come from because feeling guilty about drinking a coffee because someone far away who they will never come into contact with is dying as a result, does not fit into the Western societies fast paced consumer life.

            In Kenya, the lives of people there are very different. They cannot afford the luxury of spending five dollars on coffee. In fact, they get paid very little to work on the coffee and tea plantations. These plantations not only pay very little but they are also destroying the lands and way of life for Keynesians. As a result of creating the plantations, many trees and forests were cut down, which resulted in the drying up of rivers and made it difficult to sustain lives. Without the forests, the people in Kenya cannot cook proper food because they do not have firewood anymore. This results in not being able to get proper nutrition and the women cooking for their family now have to make carb rich food instead of vitamin rich foods, resulting in malnutrition and death. 

            This situation would have continued to get worse and worse if many women in Kenya did not start planting trees. This movement started to regrow the trees and forests that were destroyed and cut down the plantations. Though Kenya has yet to be restored to its full capability and may never be able to sustain the population like it once did, it is in the process. Perhaps our Western consumer society should do more to help this process, as we are the ones that created the demand that destroyed Kenya’s forest which caused malnutrition for many, if not most, of Kenya’s population. 

Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. Prod. Dir. Lisa Merton and Alan Dater. Marlboro Productions, 2008.

Climate Change: Effects More Than the Global North

While in student led discussions today, a very interesting point caught my attention from the group who based their presentation on Ariel Salleh, “Ecological Debt: Embodied Debt”. When they brought up the statement “The global North is assumed to be the only area affected by climate change” it made me think of how Western climate change and global warming is. Climate change does not only affect the global North, it has lasting and most often, negative affects on all parts of the world. These effects suffered by all places in the world do not all largely contribute to climate change, like the global North does, but all countries feel the lasting effects of climate change.

            The relation of ecology and climate change is principally studied in the global North, and the North often portrays themselves as the victims of this change. Yet the North is not suffering form climate change in such a negative capacity as other countries. As a result of climate change, many countries are facing famine and drought, which is having lasting negative effects. These effects are mostly suffered by third world countries, who do not have the resources to sustain themselves against climate change and its lasting effects.

            Countries, such as Africa, face the effects of climate change on a daily basis, but unlike the global North, gender has a large role in the suffering. In these countries, it is often the women’s job to go and retrieve, in which she has to walk miles a day. Now, as a result of droughts, caused by climate change, these women sometimes have to walk even further to get water for their families to survive. These women, often mothers, know the consequences that will take place if they do not continue to sustain their families (Salleh, 17). To the best of my knowledge, this type of situation, or anything close to it, does not take place in the global North. Walking large distances is not the only problem these women face as a result of climate change, many women farm to try and sustain a livelihood for their families and do numerous ecological jobs that are changing as a result of climate change.

            In my opinion, the above statement is false. The global North seems to be one of the least areas affected with climate change, with looking into third world countries and the difficulty they have with the changing climate. The ecologies that those people were and are use to is drastically changing, which has a large effect on gender in he poorer countries, especially in relation to women.

Ariel Salleh “Ecological Debt: Embodied Debt”, 1-39.

Public and Private

The public and the private sphere has often been debated. In the past, feminism was seen as private while masculinity was seen as public. Until rather recently, this idea of public and private sphere has began to change. With help of international communication, the two spheres are shifting into one larger sphere, according to some. Communication allows people, not matter their gender, to communicate easier than ever before.

To be involved in international communications, it no longer matters where you are but how connected you are to technology (Youngs, 43). Women in the past were classified as being in the private sphere and as a result, did not participate much in international communications because they did not have the opportunity. Men, on the other hand, could be involved in international communications because they were in the public sphere. Being in the public sphere allowed men to be involved because they had the access that to opportunities, ideas, places, and so much more, that women did not.

Now this whole notion is changing as a result in new technologies that allow people to connect in places like never before. Public and private spheres can start to come closer together, and in some cases merge because they both have the same traits to allow international communication inside their spheres. Technologies allow individuals from any location, such as inside their private home, which is often viewed as where women are, to connect with others, on an international scale. Individuals, not matter the gender, who do not possess the technologies are now seen as, in my opinion, a step back from the private sphere, as a result of a lack of communication availability,

The public and private spheres, in relation to gender, have and most likely will, always be contested. Some now see these two spheres merging together as a result of technologies that allow these two spheres to communicate on an international level.  It is now longer how you live your life, whether public or private, as long as you are able to communicate from your location. International communications has allowed these two spheres to change, as well as the gender roles that coincide with them.

            Youngs, Gillian. “Public/Private: The Hidden Dimension of International Communication”. 33-44.

The Hardships of War Babies

While reading Alison Watson’s article on Children Born of Wartime Rape, I found many things interesting and many more disturbing. Right at the beginning of the article I could not believe that war crime rape was not, until recently, seen as an international war crime. I can only imagine the hardships and distress that these women go through when they are raped but not having it recognized as a crime in the international arena, would make it that much worse. When the war crime of rape was not recognized as a crime, then was it a more common occurrence compared to now? Or, do war soldiers, focusing in Darfur, do not take into consideration that rape, in war, is a war crime, do they just do as they wish, no matter the crime?

            For the women in Darfur, many of are going through traumatic times; their country is involved in war and their loved ones are dying. On top of that, enemy soldiers are raping them. As discussed in class, the reason for the rape of these women is to bring shame towards the male members of their community/society. This is why many of these women do not report these rapes or mention them to anyone in their family, though sometimes others find out: when wartime babies are born. Some reasons why women do not want to report the rape is because of the shame brought on their families but they are also stigmatized by society (p. 21).

            One concept that is not taken into consideration by many people is the babies that are the outcome of wartime rape. Many hardships are brought upon their mother and family as a result, as well as he child. It is often seen that the mothers of war babies are victims but not everyone takes into consideration that these babies are victims as well (p. 27). Sometimes their mothers can abandon these babies because they could remind their mother of the horrific crime against them. Also, having a wartime baby produces a stigma against the mother and the child, as well as that women’s family. Society could judge them and treat them differently, even look down upon them, as a result of the rape. It could also be possible that if the women was married that her husband would not want to have to raise and take care of a child of another man, especially because often in these cultures money and resources such as food is scarce.

            The question may be asked, if the mothers do not want these babies then why do they not get an abortion? In poorer countries, such as Darfur, abortions could not be legal. These countries also do not have the resources to perform safe abortions and therefore the abortion would endanger the women. 

Watson, Alison. “Chidren Born of Wartime Rape: Rights and Representation”. International Feminist Journal of Politics. ,9:1,20 — 34, 2007.

Genocide

The article, Gender and Genocide in Rwanda, by Adam Jones, the topic of gendercide is discussed.  The term gendercide is different from genocide; gendercide is the mass killing of a specific gender, in this case, the Tutsis male population. The Rwanda gendercide was a unique circumstance because boys and men were targeted and women were not, in fact, women were sometime the agents of gendercide. This is rare because women are often seen as vulnerable and peaceful and to have the women being the ones who are helping in the mass killings has been rarely, if at all, seen in history. When the Rwanda gendercide was first starting to take place, the United Nations and other International Organizations did not speculate that the Hutu were at first, targeting the male population of Tutsis. If so they might have tries to evacuate the male Tutsis population from Rwanda. This might have been ideal for International Organizations to do this but that does not mean that even if they new gerndercide was being committed, they would have done anything differently. The Rwanda gendercide is seen as a failure towards the United Nations because they were slow to respond to the situation and not very successful in helping the Tutsis populations escape the horrors that were occurring.

            Women were not just agents of gendercide but they also tried desperately to try and save their sons form the Hutu. In desperation to protect them, the women tried to dress up the younger boys as girls in an attempt to save their children from being killed (p. 205).  The distress and horror that the Tutsis population must have gone through during this time is unimaginable. Their children and family were not just killed but the Tutsis women were also raped. The Hutu wanted to impregnate the Tutsis women, so they could increase the Hutu population and demolish the Tutsis population. The replications that the Hutu put on Rwanda are still affecting Rwanda today. The male population in Rwanda is still significantly low today and as a result there is more women representation in parliament then in most countries in Africa.

Jones, Adam. “Gender and Genocide in Rwanda”. Gender Inclusive: Essays on violence, men, and feminist international relations. Great Britain, 2009

Choice and Preventability

I always find Joni Seager’s, The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, really interesting and it makes me aware of issues and problems that I know little about.  In her chapter about abortion, I found it hard to comprehend the number of unsafe abortions in 2003, the world average was 48 percent (Seager, p. 39). In some developed countries, such as Canada, the number was 15 percent, which, in my opinion seems shockingly high (Seager, p. 38). Another topic that came up in the abortion section of her book was the legalization of abortions. I have always believed that it should be the women’s choice to have an abortion but a large portion of the world’s countries does not see it that same as I do. Will these countries ever change their laws regarding abortion? I believe that there will always be a strive to change abortion laws but even countries, such as the United States, where abortions are legal, there are people trying to make them illegal. I see illegalizing abortions as taking a step back and what hope do women have in countries that do not allow abortions if countries that do allow them are tying to disallow abortions?

            HIV and Aids is a disease that is not curable, yet, but can easily be prevented.  Unfortunately many people still contract HIV or Aids because they are poorly educated, do not have the resources, such as condoms, or cannot be protected from the disease, such as children. I find it be sad that simple remedies such as education and condoms have the ability to prevent, possibly millions, of lives but the resources and funding is not there to do so. It was stated in class that is costs about three American dollars to supply one condom to a person in need, such as someone in Africa, and that one condom could prevent that person from getting HIV or AIDS. Unfortunately that one person would need more than one condom throughout the duration of their life and it is not just one person but also millions of people who need these condoms. Funding to provide this is not available because it is not just condoms but education to use the condoms and there are so many tragedies, diseases, and famines in the world that there is not enough money to go around to sufficiently help each cause.

Seager, Joni. 2009. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. NY: Penguin. 

While reading Carol Cohn, “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals”, many thoughts and questions came to mind. I thought it was interesting how once she became emerged in the life of nuclear technology and weapons she believed, and with good reasoning, that the only way she could strive in that environment is that she had to start speaking that language. It was clear that speaking this language was necessary to adapt to working with nuclear weapons. For this group of people using this language was psychological in order to distance themselves from the topic at hand, I believe that they had to dehumanize what they were doing (Cohen, p. 698). Cohen came up with a strong point; “the process of learning the language is itself a part of what removes you from reality of nuclear war” (Cohen, p. 704). Though this statement is valid, in my belief, it concerns me that with this mind frame, it makes the idea nuclear war more acceptable and a likelier measure to turn to, instead of peaceful resolution. If nuclear war has a mind frame that does not include innocent lives being lost in a nuclear attack, does this mean that it is more probable to occur? Is there any way to balance the masculine features behind nuclear war to make the tasks at hand easier to accomplish but yet still realize that these weapons take human lives and the use of nuclear bombs should not be taken lightly?

            Another point that Cohn made in the article, which I found to be rather interesting, was that in relation to nuclear arms, there is no term or acknowledgement of peace (Cohen, p.708). Cohen explains that the workers on the nuclear weapons do not see peace as an option or likely outcome. Is this the actual reality of having nuclear weapons in multiple countries or just the jaded answer that military personnel choose to use? In my opinion I think it is a little bit of both.

Cohn, Carol. “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals,” Signs 12 (1987): 687.

             

Women in War

While reading Cynthia Enloe’s article, ‘Gender’ is not enough: The need for a feminist Consciousness, many valid notions of the role of women in war were brought to my attention. It is a common thought to believe that war is masculine and women have very little involvement in it. When thinking or war, often the thought of guns and violence is recalled which then is associated with masculinity, the man. The men are supposed to be the protectors of the women in times of war and this idea is common.  After reading this article, many of the above notions are false and gender and war is overlooked, in my belief. Though women may not be on the battlefield of a war, though some are, they certainly play a role in it. As stated in Enloe’s article, women and girls can be sent or taken to participate in war by being cooks or forced wives as well as nurses to the injured. Women also play a large role after a war, or when a solider comes home from a war. For instance, in the United States and Canada, when a man comes home from a war and he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the spouse takes care of the solider, even if she is faced with abuse and sometimes is murdered.

After a war, women are often not seen as political actors in resolving the disputes in the aftermath. This could be because in many people’s eyes, diplomacy can be aligned with masculinity and in past history, it is men making post war policies and women are not involved. This can now be seen as a mistake because women do participate in war, more than most people know, and having a women’s input on international relations after a war can be largely beneficial. To bring a current example in, the rebuilding of the nation Libya,  could largely benefit from having a women’s opinion, to avoid having the state built solidly on masculine properties.

            Though in many people’s eyes war is completely masculine but there are many feminist features to it, though masculine features are  dominate in war. Does the masculine dominance in war have the ability to change to a gender-neutral view of war? At this point, I believe that war will continue to be masculine dominated and people will still not see the large role that women play in wars. 


 Enloe, Cynthia. “‘Gender’ is not Enough: The Need for a Feminist Consciousness”.International Affairs Volume 80. Issue 1 (January 2004): 95-97.

The Strive for Equality

In reading Joni Seager’s, The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, numerous truths about women came to my attention that I never new about before, and I found it to be shocking. In Seager’s section about murder, the term honor killing was used, which before this reading, I was uninformed about. I could not believe that so many women are killed each year because they apparently brought shame onto their family. In many cases these women brought shame on their family for something that they had no control over, such as being raped. I find it hard to comprehend that in this present day, honor killing, which mainly happens to women and girls, is still acceptable in countries, such as Egypt. I cannot help but spectacle that if honor killings were being done to men at the same rate that it is being done to women, would measures to stop it by human rights activists and international organizations, be occurring faster?

Growing up in Canada, I believe can make you naïve to what is happening to other people around the world and the difficulties that people who are minorities; women, gay and lesbian, have to deal with on a daily bases and can put them in life or death situations. In addition to honor killings, I find it hard to understand why in some countries, like Sudan and Iran, that people who are homosexuals are subjected to the death penalty or criminalized. To me, it is unfathomable to comprehend how people can be so hateful and hold such rage towards someone they do not know, but know only their sexual orientation. In my opinion, a human being is a human being and all should be treated equally, no matter sexual orientation. How is it that our world has the capability to send a man into outer space and cure diseases but all humans cannot be treated equal and given that same rights?

 Whether it is women getting married at a young are to a man with multiple wives to being discriminated against because of your sexual orientation to a women being abused by her spouse or being murdered because of something she could not control and having to have more children than she want to, women are susceptible to many, if not all, of the above on a daily basis. It is alarming to read all the statics about the hardship that women have to go through but could there possibly be more measures that can take place so the above occurrences decrease? If international law stepped in and made laws and punishments to the countries allowing some of the listed problems above, then possibly many, if not all, of the statistics would decrease. Of course, this is easier said then done.   

Seager, Joni. 2009. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. NY: Penguin. Seager.