You said, that men’s “feelings of machismo suffer to see women right along with them and raping them is a way to gain back some of that superiority.” Well said! I have had that thought throughout this discussion, also. It seems like many of our readings are about how men seem to have these fragile egos that can’t handle any competition, especially from women and have to oppress women in a variety of ways in order to maintain power and control.
Sexual assault and rape against women happens all around the world as previous readings have shown. I remember from Chapter 10, Resisting Violence Against Women which says ”the 2005 Population Report indicates that around the world, one in three women are beaten, coerced into sex, and otherwise abused.” (Shaw, Lee pg 555). It also talks about rape being a “weapon of war all over the world.” (Shaw, Lee pg 556).
Personally, I think that war itself opens a Pandora ’s Box of human ills. When we normalize killing and violence, people become desensitized to it and are more apt to use these tactics for resolving internal (and interpersonal) conflicts. You hit on something important when you talked about the military being traditionally a men’s club and how that change may be a challenge to some men’s feelings of superiority over women. More and more women are being utilized as soldiers. The Private War of Women Soldiers states that “more than 160,500 American female soldiers have served in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East since the war began in 2003, which means one in seven soldiers is a woman.” (women in the military website). With so many women in armed service, you’d think the military as an institution would recognize the benefit of protecting them. Unfortunately, the military does not consider their soldiers (female or male) to be free and autonomous individuals with the same rights as any other American. They are seen and used as weapons of war and this attitude trickles down to the ranks (in my view) and humanity is subsequently lost.
