June 25, 2005
Symbolic Value, High. Real Value, Not So Much
by Lorraine Berry
Every soldier's death diminishes me. Every time a roadside bomb goes off, somewhere in America, parents, brothers, sisters, children, neighbors, classmates feel the sudden sting of death. We have now sent over 1700 families over the abyss into the grief of losing young people in their prime.
So, the news that the latest bomb attack killed a number of female soldiers is as tragic as every other bombing. But apparently, for certain members of our culture, woman's symbolic value makes this loss all the more tragic.
"Fierce debate" will greet the news that women were killed.
The role of women soldiers in Iraq has set off a fierce debate in Washington. Conservatives have charged that the military exposes female soldiers to excessive danger by assigning them to support units that commonly operate alongside male combat troops. They believe the Pentagon is violating the spirit of the law that prohibits women from serving in infantry, artillery, or armor units.
The Center for Military Readiness has made one of its prime missions to exempt women from combat. Fair enough. Personally, I don't want anyone in combat. Women. Men. Children. I don't want us involved in this war that the President started.
Women soldiers dying in combat is a horror. But so is the horror of our sons dying there, too. So, before this debate even starts, can we stop? Please? Because quite frankly, as a woman, I find it incredibly offensive that conservatives can shed crocodile tears over women soldiers, but won't give civilian women the time of day. They seem to have no problem denying us birth control so that some of us will die in childbirth. They seem to have no problem with the millions of women infected with the AIDS virus. They have no problem throwing women off the Welfare rolls. They have no problem denying women the rights and benefits that men enjoy.
I'm sick and tired of my symbolic value being more than my real value. I am a person. A whole person. I'm not your Barbie Doll, your Virgin Mary, your Holy Mother. My life is not of worth only when I am reproducing the next generation or serving the brethren by making men's lives easier. And I'll be goddamned if you get to make political hay out of the fact that soldiers died in Iraq. When those bombs went off, they were not men or women, they were scared kids who were about to be blown off the face of the earth, leaving behind holes the size of the universe in their loved ones' lives.
Posted by in Body, Culture War, Democracy, Feminism, Gender, Iraq, Media, Mythologies, Propaganda, Semiotics, Sexual Politics, War
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Say it loud, say it proud!
Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I appreciate so many things you write here, but this post moves straight to the heart of my world. My daughter is on duty in Iraq right now (blogging from www.keepingthegate.blogspot.com) and deals on a daily basis with folks inside and out of the army who place a "symbolic value" on her gender that is greater than the personal value they assign to the job she does, the mind she has, the possession of her own body she claims, OR the political view she maintains regarding Mr. Bush's war. Thanks for your work here. It matters on most days, but it matters so very much today. -mg
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Comment by: Antonella at June 26, 2005 09:34 AM
I cannot agree more with you. It's about moral, not about people. It's not about I cannot agree more with you. The ”fierce debate” and indignation are about abstract moral values, not about people. It's not about the women who where killed (the flesh, the smell, they way they smiled, their uniqueness, the memory we have of them, the hole they left in our emotional network). It's about politicians’ fear of being accused to break the “family values” myth they so much bragged about.
I wish our moral values where inclusiveness, respect of everyone’s happiness and wellbeing (women, gay, minorities, future generations, the Earth), and compassion. “Personal” moral values that require personal commitment rather than abstract rules (God, The Family, The Country) that only require fierce debates.
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Comment by: jami at June 27, 2005 11:36 AM
i write brief summaries of the daily violence in iraq to point out how horrific and frequent it is. i tried to use the "they were chicks" angle, like i use "they were children" to emphasize how awful it is, but i wasn't feelin' it. these women weren't victims. they're as much people who died fighting for their country as any man.
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Comment by: Mary Godwin at June 25, 2005 09:29 PM