I loved the Anu that came to class and had a conversation with our class. That Anu was open and more critical and seemed to stand firmly with out any hesitation for what she believed in--women's rights in the military. I am very critical of the military and usually judge those involved very harshly, but she helped me see a new perspective. That through women joining the military, it makes a statement for women's rights. The U.S. needs to take it one step at a time. For example, have equal training requirements for men and women. She made a good point when she said when you tell women that they only need to do 50 push-ups instead of the 100 that men do, that's all they will think they are able to do. Women have been striving to reach goals set by men for a long time, and if that is the standard then women will meet it. She was critical of her behavior along with other soldier's behaviors from the military environment.
I have met others like this as well. When I went on the Beyond Bridges Israel Palestine trip, our group met with members of the IDF who were also critical of their behavior and even regretted some of their actions and what they one stood for. Although I think it's great that we can be critical after the event as happened, I wonder what good does that do? The actions have already happened and the words have already been spoken. There is only so much one can do. Have these reflections affected those in the military today? I can only hope that the work done to spread awareness will be enough or make a dent in all the inequalities occurring the military. It made me realize why I am so critical of the military. It's because it is one institution that has the ability to affect millions of other's lives, not just american lives.
When Anu gave the public presentation to all of USF, her attitude totally changed. She seemed very defensive of the military and had more pride in the institution that was part of the reason for women's inequalities. She barley touched on what it was that affected women in the military and more on female's achievements. Some things she said didn't sit right with me. For example, she talked about one of her heroes [Martha McSally] who worked to get the requirement for wearing a scarf in Saudi Arabia banned for female soldiers. I think this was just disrespectful because of cultural norms--no matter where you are. You are invading a country, invading women's privacy, destroying their lives and the least you can do is accept the cultural norms. The hardest thing is that she didn't believe that what the military was fighting for was corrupt. She was fighting for women's rights in American while at the same time taking away rights of women in Afghanistan. The irony is so blatant to me I don't understand how people miss it. It just emphasized the fact that America's "freedom" is all that its cracked up to be so to speak. We claim that these countries in African and the Middle East and South Asia are jealous of our freedoms and our democracy when the reality is I think we are just as "uncivilized," we just know how and have the resources to cover it up a lot better.
~Sarah
I have met others like this as well. When I went on the Beyond Bridges Israel Palestine trip, our group met with members of the IDF who were also critical of their behavior and even regretted some of their actions and what they one stood for. Although I think it's great that we can be critical after the event as happened, I wonder what good does that do? The actions have already happened and the words have already been spoken. There is only so much one can do. Have these reflections affected those in the military today? I can only hope that the work done to spread awareness will be enough or make a dent in all the inequalities occurring the military. It made me realize why I am so critical of the military. It's because it is one institution that has the ability to affect millions of other's lives, not just american lives.
When Anu gave the public presentation to all of USF, her attitude totally changed. She seemed very defensive of the military and had more pride in the institution that was part of the reason for women's inequalities. She barley touched on what it was that affected women in the military and more on female's achievements. Some things she said didn't sit right with me. For example, she talked about one of her heroes [Martha McSally] who worked to get the requirement for wearing a scarf in Saudi Arabia banned for female soldiers. I think this was just disrespectful because of cultural norms--no matter where you are. You are invading a country, invading women's privacy, destroying their lives and the least you can do is accept the cultural norms. The hardest thing is that she didn't believe that what the military was fighting for was corrupt. She was fighting for women's rights in American while at the same time taking away rights of women in Afghanistan. The irony is so blatant to me I don't understand how people miss it. It just emphasized the fact that America's "freedom" is all that its cracked up to be so to speak. We claim that these countries in African and the Middle East and South Asia are jealous of our freedoms and our democracy when the reality is I think we are just as "uncivilized," we just know how and have the resources to cover it up a lot better.
~Sarah
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