Nina Perez
WST 3015
5 April 2010
For many people in the United States 2004 was a critical year for domestic politics in our country. Many people felt outrage that our country seemed to be on an very swiftly moving downward spiral and Democrats were poised to take control of the White House and the reigns. A huge focus of election 2004 was the war in Iraq, the terms for which we had occupied that country and the thinking behind our extended stay there. All wrapped up in our own fury and self importance we never seem to remember that there were actually thinking, breathing people in the country we were occupying who literally had a life or death interest in our election of a new President and administration.
Luckily for me and for others with an open mind, a woman in Iraq kept a blog that helps serve as a voice for what Iraqi's were feeling in 2004 in the midst of the American elections. Her blog is incredibly powerful because it came at a time when the American media and even people in our own government tried with the utmost eagerness to paint Iraqi people with one broad-brush stroke. Her blog is so powerful that with one fowl swoop her words crush any of the myths perpetuated by the simple minds of the American media and governments. She talks about how even it was true post occupation that most Iraqi's did not pay close attention to American elections that myth was no longer true now that they had become occupied and it was even true in 2000 when Iraqi's feared what a Bush administration would mean for them.
"Many, many people have asked me about the elections and what we think of them. Before, I would have said that I really don’t think much about it. Up until four years ago, I always thought the American elections were a pretty straightforward process: two white males up for the same position (face it people- it really is only two- Nader doesn’t count), people voting and the person with more votes wins. After the debacle of four years ago, where Bush Jr. was *assigned* president, things are looking more complicated and a little bit more sordid (Enloe)."
Another thing I think is striking from this quote is the inherent "feminist" language it contains. Such broad swatches of Americans think that Iraqi women are an oppressed, uneducated group who are kept away from society and politics. Her asserting this intellectual well formed opinion about the American election is such a powerful myth buster about the nature of women in Iraq and the existence of a woman's movement there.
In my opinion her blogs primary function is one of education. Although, this particular entry and many of Riverbends other entries are also inherently political. Even though Riverbend and her fellow Iraqi's cannot themselves participate in American elections, (which to me seems an atrocity given they are essentially a conquered territory) her blog and her voice can definitely have a powerful effect on her American readers. It's clear she knows this when she passionately implores Americans to live up to the best of what we are and vote for John Kerry. "I guess what I’m trying to say is this: Americans, the name of your country which once stood for ‘freedom and justice’ is tarnished worldwide. Your latest president has proved that the great American image of democracy is just that- an image. You can protest, you can demonstrate, you can vote- but it ends there. The reigns were out of your hands the moment Bush stepped into the White House. You were deceived repetitively and duped into two wars. Your sons and daughters are dying, and killing, in foreign lands. Your embassies are in danger all over the world. ‘America’ has become synonymous with ‘empire’, ‘hegemony’, and ‘warfare’. And why? All because you needed to be diverted away from the fact that you’re current president is a failure (Enloe)."
When I received this assignment I immediately navigated to Riverbend's blog entries from 2004. I hoped that she had made entries based on the American election. What a fascinating record of Iraqi thought during that time. 2004 was an especially disappointing election for me and for many Americans, but none of us can know the depth of despair people occupied can feel when they literally "lose" and lose big. The result of occupation is summed up well in chapter ten of our text, Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspective, women in the military is discussed. “Perhaps one of the most far-reaching effects of war is the normalization of violence in everyday life…” (504). This normalization is perhaps the most awful result of the 2004 elections that is forgotten, and the biggest burden left behind.
Enloe, Riverbend. "American Election 2004." Web log post. Baghdad Burning. 25 Oct. 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.
Im glad you brought up this blog entry, because I think it is interesting that even prior to the U.S. realizing the mistakes of electing Bush, a foreigner was able to see this. I find it shocking though,how informed a foreigner could be on issues of American politics, but if I talked to many people I work with, live around, or go to school with... they are much less keyed into the political world around them. What does that say about us?
ReplyDeleteI wish I had researched the blog entries before I chose mine. I did one from 2004 but prior to the big election. I find it to be great and almost enlightening that the countries that are affected by our politics actually pay attention to what's being done about our political system. Like what Alex said, I too find it to be amazing that foreigners pay more attention to American politics than Americans do.
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