Terror and Cultural Framing

This piece of artwork of a toddler peering over the U.S-Mexico border was created by renowned French artist JR. This image means something different to each local, but above all it calls for attention that the locals exist as people and as one local said in a video about this piece of artwork: "hey look I exist and I'm not a terrorist". 

         We have to work as a nation to fight not only for women’s rights, but also human rights. It comes as no surprise that the militarization of the U.S-Mexico border is reinforced by violent tactics attempting to keep people from crossing as described in Falcon’s article. Those who do cross the border and are caught face beatings, harassment, sexual assault, and rape. Falcon’s connection to militarization with the need to dominate and control connects to Bunch’s article and the Bush administration’s desire to dominate and instill fear in other countries. This brute domination reminds me of the sexual assault documentary we recently watched in class because it was mentioned that rape is so prevalent in the armed forces, especially in the barracks of Washington because it is full of power hungry aggressive men. I truly fear for the safety of those, particularly women, who attempt to cross the U.S-Mexico border under the new Trump administration.

      I found Bunch’s article to be very interesting because before I had never considered the Bush administrations reaction to 9/11 as a source contributing to anti-Americanism and anger towards America. Bunch brings up a thought-provoking argument by questioning what would have happened if instead of alienating and demonizing other countries, if the U.S could have shown greater empathy. Perhaps this could have changed to trajectory of future terrorist attacks in the U.S. However, the Bush administration’s handling of 9/11 is in the past and there is no way to change what happened. Something that Bunch failed to recognize in her article, however, is that there was also a positive backlash to the events of 9/11. Even though Bush’s management after 9/11 may have caused a lot of resentment from other nations, the U.S as a whole came together to help one another through such a tragic attack. Although, instead of focusing on the past we must focus on current actions, especially with the new Trump administration and other nations reactions, which has thus far been negative. The Trump administrations strict policy on foreign affairs will only cause other nations to resent the U.S even more. Although a long quote, the sentiments Bunch expresses is very eye opening and brings the article together: “For while the US government has often been hypocritical in its human rights policies, open disregard for international standards goes a step further and thus strengthens fundamentalist governments and forces that seek to deny human rights in general, and the rights of women in particular.”

Abu-Lughod’s article talks about the importance of understanding the Muslim cultural and not just framing and stereotyping it as many Americans do. Last school year, I took a Middle Eastern Women’s Studies class which really changed my perspective on Muslim culture as a whole and particularly with Muslim women. As Abu-Lughod explains in her article, "the veil was not invented by the Taliban". I too believed this common misconception until I learned in my Middle Eastern course that Muslim women wore the veil for religious reasons. I think that in order to understand other cultures it is essential to recognize the differences between ones culture and another and remove any biased thoughts or preconceptions of that culture. 

- Jane B