Feminist Perspectives On 9/11
Woman's images and capabilities have been gendered for many years. People believe that women will not take a job seriously if they are put in a position of authority. Whether its women in charge of military operations or not being taken seriously by others, they are being treated poorly. Americans at home felt more secure when men would be in charge and have that 'beefy front' and strength to protect us.
Women across the world are being treated unfairly because of how gender-based many positions of authority are, how they make women feel powerless, and are not taken seriously because of their gender. Negative gender stereotyping of women and feminist arose due to traditions in the East and were brought to life again due to the post 9/11 media coverage. It documented these women and the struggling times they faced from men. In Eastern countries, angry young men were trained in religious schools in Madrassas, Pakistan to hate women. That power over women gave these troubled men a self-esteem boost and more confidence when they felt powerless themselves. Occidentalism was taught in these religious schools that educated these men to have a hatred that came from 'a war tradition to hate those in the West who were impotent, marginalized, and denigrated.' According to Russian and Japanese history, the fundamentals of hate which originated from Occidentalism including materialism, liberalism, capitalism, rationalism, and feminism played enormous roles in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Occidentalism teaches men that women being able to be free themselves from their social norm leads to their decline. They also were taught that women were only looked upon for being “breeders of heroic men.”
These made women everywhere upset and angry and caught the attention of 9/11 media coverage. The media covered women especially in Afghanistan who felt this way. The education these men were being taught in Madrassas, Pakistan religious schools gave them self-satisfaction and brought happiness to their lives while making women feel powerless. This satisfaction gave these men more power to treat women poorly and with disrespect. Occidentalism taught many men to hate feminists and women in the west because of the freedoms they have and power it gave men.Feminists put up with a lot of backlash from many people. Sarah Wildman claims how American feminist had 'no public platform' for what they were fighting for because the media was focused on Afghan women. She also states how American feminist stood on the 'grounds of irrelevance' because they had no chance to improve what they were fighting for. She believed there was no hope for improving the conditions they endured because of how male-dominated the world was. Arab men would use gender and ethnic profiling toward women and claim that because they were at war it was tolerable to target and use gender and ethnic profiling. Women often get blamed when there is “political, economic, and social uncertainty,” and portrayed as weak because they are easy to blame according to Kurth. Along with that Kurth has a fear that feminist will be disastrous to the social foundation of society.
Fukuyama also feared that the United States would be unable to defend itself while women would be in combat and that America was becoming too feminized. But, both men and women had rated the military high and that it was doing its job. American feminist fought as hard as they could to try to improve their reputation by standing up for what they believe in, but they would get put down because they would be blamed for making America's economic, political, and social security unstable. They would also be victims of demeaning stereotypes, and be subject to gender profiling. Conditions got even worse for women in the 1970’s and even after 9/11. The Taliban prevented Afghan women from working in public, having an education, and appearing in public without having a close male relative alongside them and being completely covered in clothing. They would be beaten out in the open for everyone to see if they participated in education, or violate any of the other strict rules. Boys that grew up in the religious schools were taught that the 'sight of a woman is equal to seeing the foreign other which is evil itself.' In addition to the ban on employment for women, they would be 'forced into begging and prostitution' without a close male relative to care for them. Since they were not allowed to go out frequently, they along with their children would not be able to get health care.
Women were subject to brutal conditions: they would be beaten miserably if they were not covered from head to toe in clothing in public, going places without an accompanying male, and were banned from employment. The workforce, educational world, and society itself were predominately male and this was angering women. Feminists are finally fighting back especially for persecuted women who can not fight for themselves. They’ve had enough of the way they've been treated and decided to establish an independent group to help women. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) was established in 1977 to fight for women's rights and battle corruption. They would increase the number of women in social and political activities to give them a position of authority. They also could work for a branch of a government to give them the chance to experience positions dominated by men. This was established also in part to stop the physical harm being done if Afghan women would not meet daily needs required by the Taliban. RAWA also continued to work and make health care and education available to women and their children. RAWA would also make them go out more to defend the rights they have; by being sent with hidden cameras on risky missions to Afghanistan to record and show concrete proof of abuse. Women were on an upswing. Organizations such as RAWA were being formed to help women and protect their rights.
The more they fought the brighter a woman’s future looked. This was all created to help women stay out of harm’s way and establish more rights for them.Gender is a small issue society faces during times of war and crisis. Francis Fukuyama asserted that “men are warlike and women peacefully justify men's aggression by having them be involved in activities such as military realms, and political and economic activities which diminishes opportunities for women.” Before 9/11 occurred , military heroes were defined with a tough and tender image, but after 9/11 occurred , a new view of manliness was taken into perspective. Men would cry and tears were not considered a form of weakness. This showed that a soldier or hero could be sad and tender but can be brave as well. Tickner asks if, “ Masculinity in times of war brings out new forms depending on opening new definitions of femininity?” This is because more women are being seen in public life, especially as the military is accepting women as soldiers. This has occurred since the 9/11 attacks because women have fought and been killed in Afghan wars. Seeing more and more gender mutual roles in society leads us to accept these changing roles and shows progressing signs of equality. Because of the gendering images and oppression women faced, society seeing more and more of the problems Afghan women faced during the Afghanistan war. Fundamentalist religions are bad for women. Most fundamentalist religions have been denominated by males, so it would be difficult for women to consider practicing these. They all share a common idea that women should be suppressed no matter what religion it is.
These religions are often seen as the source for 'social ills' because of how they make people feel, especially women mostly because of how it excludes women and makes them feel powerless. Restrictions women faced in Eastern countries were unfair and unjustified. These restrictions for women include being unable to go out in public unless accompanied by a male relative, being covered from head to toe in clothing, and being banned from employment. Not being able to go in public alone restricted them from getting health care for themselves and their children. They are also beaten publicly if they were to violate any of these restrictions. Women should be able to go in public if they please and should not have to be accompanied by a male or be covered. Women should be able to get employment if they want to and should not be forbidden. If these restrictions for Eastern nations were lifted, women could also get the health care they need for themselves and their children. These restrictions really hurt women and were just horrible. If a woman were to get beaten they could not recover because they couldn't get health care required to heal. That left them feeling hopeless. If women did not have these obstacles, then these issues and problems would not be present. These restrictions should be lifted and women should be treated fairly. All humans should be treated the same and not be hated for. Women created these men who are causing all of the females suffering pain which is unacceptable. These restrictions being lifted would make many females lives better.
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson’s point on why 9/11 is incorrect. 9/11 was blamed on feminist because they “made God mad.” They angered God so much which caused all of this destruction and the lost lives. Their argument is invalid entirely. Feminist did not anger God by any means. God loves all people and is very accepting of everyone. God is very forgiving when people commit sins. It would not be correct for Feminists to cause the 9/11 terrorist attacks when God is forgiving of people's mistakes and willing to put those errors in the past. It also does not make sense that Women and Feminists caused 9/11 when the angry middle eastern men caused all the pain and suffering and innocent lives that were lost. Women and Feminist did not cause 9/11. The men in the middle east caused all this pain to the United States. If anything, women had any right to carry out this crime because of the way they were treated by men and the horrible conditions they had to endure from them.
Feminists are treated horribly and with so much disrespect. They are hated on by angry men who support Occidentalism, along with many others who dislike them. Angry men are taught to target women and make them feel powerless. That feeling of making women feel powerless gave a huge self-esteem boost to these troubled men. Feminists, along with a few other social groups were blamed for the 9/11 terrorist attacks because they “made God mad” according to Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson. The world needed men with a strong, “beefy front” to protect society and make society feel safe. If a women were to do this, people would not take them seriously. Women would also get blamed in times of political, economic, and social uncertainty. They were also used as targets to make men feel better and take away the attention from men so men wouldn't get blamed. The mistreatment of women is horrific because they were treated so poorly and never given a chance. Because of how male-dominated the world was, they felt hopeless and felt like they could never accomplish anything. Organizations such as RAWA were put in place to help these women through the times they struggled and give them more opportunities to be a part of the society they lived in.
