Work Cited:
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Women's Reproductive Rights
Patriarchy and Women's Reproductive Rights
The political cartoon illustrates the issue of women’s reproductive rights, specifically in the United States. The U.S. must embrace the right of a woman to choose and have access to medical care they deem appropriate. Whether it’s something as neutral as contraceptives and prevention surgeries, to one of the most difficult decisions in a woman life: abortion, safe and reasonably affordable health care must be provided. The alternative in a dire situation includes dangerous back alley operations. A clear-headed society must absolutely prefer the most life saving and death preventing operations instead. However the U.S. has broken away from the pack of rational society and governing. Instead, it is using the system of patriarchy to encircle and ravenously attack the human right of access to appropriate health care.
The political cartoon has three prominent women’s reproductive rights opponents, who are unsurprisingly male, appearing on a pregnant woman’s ultrasound. The very men on the ultrasound are those who actively propose and enact laws to restrict women’s rights. In doing so, they are forcing women, who potentially may seek to terminate their pregnancy because of a dire situation, to resort to unnecessarily risky surgeries. After Texas reduced the number of clinics with the ability to preform abortion from 22 to 6, researches have already found accounts “of women taking herbs or other substances, or intentionally getting punched in the stomach or beaten up -- the same kinds of things they did before abortion was legal."[1] There are other safer alternatives than this, but even clinics that do not preform abortions at all are being severely defunded.
Although the systematic erosion of women’s reproductive rights is clearly egregious at its most basic form, looking at in a lens where we analyze the patriarchal gears behind it all reveals a deeper issue. Patriarchy says that the three politicians (referenced earlier) individually do not directly oppress women and their right to appropriate health care. Albeit very influential, they are still mere cogs in the system that is the Patriarchy. Patriarchy is enforced “Through a process of socialization,” which teaches us how to “participate in social life – from families, schools, religion, and the mass media, through the example of parents, peers, coaches, teachers, and public figures.”[2] The socialization process surrounds us and identifies who we are in the world in relation to others. Patriarchy directs this relation to oppressing women and allowing men to have disproportional power.
This very patriarchy is what allows men to control and place restrictions on women’s human right to appropriate health care.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Migrant Workers in the United Arab Emirates
Oppressed Labor
The United Arab Emirates is funding a more than $20 billion cultural hub. The U.A.E. is using migrant workers of mostly South Asian origin in their workforce (around 42.5% of the workforce are migrants from South Asia[1]). According to The Guardian, migrant workers are operating in prison conditions. In the article Migrants building UAE cultural hub 'working in prison conditions', worker’s have restricted freedoms and are subjected to inhumane policies and living conditions that degrade their rights as humans. One may ask why the migrant workers allow themselves to be exploited and continue to live in inhumane conditions, but that line of questioning assumes that the workers, who come from impoverished backgrounds and from regions with little options for sustainable income, have a feasible choice not to.
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| Construction workers at the Burj Dubai |
However, why don’t the migrant workers just get up and leave the squalid condition where “bathrooms [are] shared by 20 men without proper sanitation, sewage outside the main entrance, and makeshift food markets that looked like refuse dumps…” It makes sense that the workers would leave after realizing how bad the condition are; however, many of the workers were in “serious debt as a result of paying illegal recruitment fees to gain work on the island.” Through this debt, the U.A.E. is able to keep the workers in control and is able to keep a constant workforce, which fulfills Erik, Olin, and Wrights first criteria for class exploitation: that, “The material welfare of one group of people causally depends on the material deprivations of another.”[4] Without the migrant workers, the U.A.E. would be without a reliable workforce. It needs to keep the workers in debt to keep them working on their precious cultural hub.
[1] "Daily Commercial News - UAE workforce includes large number of workers from India, conference told". Dcnonl.com. 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
[2] Batty, David. "Migrants Building UAE Cultural Hub 'working in Prison Conditions'" The Gaurdian. The Gaurdian, 4 Apr. 2015. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
[3] Marx, Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism, pg. 37
[4] Erik, Olin, Wright, Class Counts, pg. 58
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Rights of LGBT Community and Patriarchy
Travesti and Patriarchy
The right to express one’s gender and/or sexuality freely, comfortably, and without repercussion (as long as one’s sexuality is geared towards consenting adults) is a fundamental human right. However, the LGBTQ community’s rights are some of the least protected around the world. There are countless incidents of discrimination and outright horrendous treatment of people because they identify in a way that does not fit the traditional binary categories of male or female. Travesti, written by Don Kulick, presents detailed accounts of a group of, what Kulick refers to them as, transgender prostitutes in Brazil. Through the accounts of the lives, the reader learns about how sexuality based discrimination is a big issue that has deep roots in patriarchy and our incorrect notions of sexuality and gender.
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| self-describe travesti that was murdered |
The book focuses on the life of a group of people with male genitals who strongly identify as males. These males also just so happen to identify as females. However, their conception of womanhood is through such a heavily patriarchal lens that they use to express how they are better at “being a woman” than those whom society considers women; they call themselves travestis. These travestis are “ … forced into prostitution because they cannot gain employment in any other sector.”[1] Like many other countries, Brazil does not have laws protecting against discrimination against individuals on “… the basis of appearance or sexual orientation.” Once one factors in patriarchy’s opposition to gender non-conformity, it is evident that the travestis are not welcome in society. In fact, “policemen are a major source of violence against travestis.” (Pg. 31) To make matters worse, those who committed violent acts against travestis are not punished because society sees the travestis as “… asking for it, and no one should expect courts to unduly penalize a man just because he shoots travestis in the face.” Essentially, travestis are treated like disposable sex objects and have no real protections under the law.
To understand how patriarchy allows for such a blatant violation of human rights, one must remain cognizant of the deeply imbedded Patriarchy. Although, to even get to the step of Patriarchy, one must recognize that gender is something we are socialized into and actively participate and mold to achieve rather than just purely ascribed. This construction of gender starts with “assignment to a sex category on the basis of what the genitalia look like at birth.”[2] From then on it continues as a social institution with a process of “… creating distinguishable social statuses for the assignment of rights and responsibilities.” Society legitimizes this by continually reinforcing the Patriarchal ideals; however, “gender as a social construction does not flow automatically from genitalia…” Others do not understand that. Instead of trying to get a better grasp on the dimensions of gender/sexuality, people fear it and push it away. Patriarchy allows people to get away with violently ostracizing and assaulting gender non-conformists.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Rabbit Proof Fence
Exploitation in Rabbit Proof Fence
Rabbit-Proof Fence, Phillip Noyce’s 2002 film (based on the book by Doris Garimara), tells the story of three mixed-race Aboriginal girls: Molly (the oldest and the main character), Daisy, and Gracie. The film takes place in 1930 Australia when Aboriginal children were kidnapped and forced to attend a re-education camp for “half-castes” by the official Protector of Western Australian Aborigines. Neville, the film’s protagonist, seeks to teach the half-caste children in the ways of the whites and gives them training so the half-castes can serve as laborers and servants to white families. He eventually hopes to breed out the Aboriginal blood in the half-caste lineage and seeks for them to be absorbed into white society. The majority of the film focuses on the girls’ daring attempt to find a way back home after escaping the re-education camp; however, it gives key insight to how people of color are seen by white society, even if the people of color were the natives to the land.
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| Diagram of where the rabbit fences were placed |
One of the most shocking parts of the film is how Mr. Neville is considered the, “the legal guardian of every Aborigine in the State of Western Australia.” The Australian government systematically took away the right of parents to claim guardianship over their own children. Consequentially, the government is making the claim that the Aborigine people do not deserve or are not able to raise their own young. Instead, white society and government sees themselves as their savior. Thus, it is evident that the white culture in Australia did not see the Aborigine people as suitable to provide to society. Instead of respecting their way of life or putting the onus of adaptation on the Aborigines themselves, the Australian government forced children to attend re-education camps. These camps, aside from forcibly removing children from their families and homes, trained the half-cast and Aborigine children to serve as indentured servants to white families. All they were given to look forward to were low paying jobs in the domestic and cheap labor markets and exploitation. As Marx states in Capitalist and Pre-Capitalist Societies (referenced and cited in another analysis post), the survival of the dominant class is dependent upon the continued exploitation of the lower class. Thus, of course the dominant class would want to indoctrinate a whole race of people to commoditize themselves as indentured servants with little to no other alternative in employment and life chances.
Rabbit Proof Fence. Dir. Phillip Noyce. Perf. Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Kenneth Branagh. Miramax Home Entertainment., 2003. Netflix Stream.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Beasts of No Nation Analysis
BEASTS OF NO NATION
Cary Fukunaga’s 2015 film, Beasts of No Nation, tells the story of a fierce warlord training a young orphan to join his group of guerilla soldiers. It presents the audience with the plight of a child-soldier.
When watching the film, along with common sense, one can easily recognize that having children serve as soldiers is a heavy-handed slap in the face to Human Rights. When people with so called “normal” lives think of childhood, they think of innocence and positive growth. All across the globe, human rights groups fight for children to have access to an education so as to afford them some life opportunities. In addition, children ought to feel safe and allowed to discover themselves without having to fear immanent death. These rights, along with many others, are taken away from vulnerable children with little other options. The Commander takes advantage of these orphaned children by offering what appears to be a new family through the brotherhood of a guerrilla force, “All of you that have never been listened to before and have seen your family killed, huh, you now have something that stands for you. You now have something that stands for you!” The Commander teaches and indoctrinates the children to hate the enemy government and teaches them how to kill. Children in any case are easily impressionable, especially when they do not have a family unit’s support. Thus, the Commander takes advantage of their situation to have the children serve him for his own evil gain. This violation of Human Rights has large sociological implications in the child soldiers’ lives. For one, as stated earlier, their life chances are greatly reduced. Because they do not get the opportunity to receive a formal education, they already stray away from the path of a happy, stable life. In addition, their experience is emotionally scarring and leaves them unable to cope with the world outside of guerilla warfare. As Agu, a child soldier and the film’s protagonist, expresses, “I saw terrible things... and I did terrible things,” “... I just want to be happy in this life. If I'm telling this to you... you will think that... I am some sort of beast... or devil. I am all of these things... but I also having mother... father... brother and sister once. They loved me.” It is evident that these child soldier’s rights and childhood innocence are being stolen away from them by the evil grips of war.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Civil Rights Museum
Civil Rights Museum Impact
On Friday, November 21st, our class visited the Civil Rights Museum in Atlanta, GA. The Museum was largely dedicated to presenting the movement of the long 60’s where African-Americans took the charge in denying their alleged fate to be second-class citizens. The movement called for an end to legal racism and sought to protect the rights of minority groups.
While walking through the museum’s exhibits, I gained a fresh and larger appreciation for all the men and women who put their life on the line to secure rights for all Americans, no matter their creed or color. They recognized that they had to be the ones to finally put an end to de jur racism and put this country on the right path to maybe one day letting us live without racism. The exhibits told the story of some who gave their life to fighting for the cause of justice struck a deep chord. I cannot imagine how much courage it took to protest when you knew that some bigot police chief can send his pseudo-army/cronies of police officers to round you up and do anything with little to no repercussion. The lunch counter exhibit experience gave me a slight glimpse in how it may have felt to be one those peacefully protested but still had to face violent opposition. A few seconds into the exhibit, I had goose bumps all over even if I was well aware it was not real. In addition, the museum emphasized how well the movement was able to bring very large and sometimes isolated groups together to rally America towards a better future. They were able to have not only African-Americans participate in the movement, but also socially conscious and brave white-American young men and women to participate. In addition, they inspired other movements in the United States, like field worker and migrant worker rights under the leadership of Cesar Chavez. Without inspirational leaders from the first wave of the Civil Rights Movement, there may not have been the Grape boycott that finally pushed farm corporations to recognize their field laborers as actual people than just someone controlled by the means of production. 
The museum serves as a great reminder of how far we have come; however, we must acknowledge that we have a very long way to go. Nonetheless, the U.S., along with the rest of the world, is a much better place and I am greatly thankful for all those who contributed to the movement. The Civil Rights movement was a tremendous example of taking sociological principles and findings and using them to enact positive change in the world. In other words, they were able to see the disparity and stratification and acted upon it.
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