Trade: A Statement of Power and Control
The themes of all of these chapters for me was simply power, and how economically and socially countries simply state their place and power in the world by trade in goods, humans, and sex. These terms also interconnect in many ways, more ways then I would have thought if I just looked at these words out of context. Chapter 2 of SAE spoke of how the US has become greedy in their trade, which is in fact one of the most effective ways, in the eyes of the US, to show and prove that “they” are the most powerful country and ultimately have the control economically and metaphorically when compared to other societies. Yet it is obvious that China and Japan will eventually take the US by storm because we as a nation have become so dependent on them to supply cheap goods, and slowly they are gaining the upper hand. The US has always prided itself on being a democratic, capitalist country, yet we are digging our self our own hole because of our greedy ways. Manufactured goods are not the only things that are traded for money in order to have control; the sex trade industry is booming with money and power as well. Sex can be a very powerful and manipulative tool, just as the international trading of goods can be. Men feel as though because of these feminist movements, they are taking a backseat to a woman’s success, and just want the “old-fashioned wife” figure back. The sex trade being so big in foreign countries also represents their power as well. Many wealthy CEO’s in China and Japan purchase wives, and to many in their culture that shows not only power and money, but it also represents respect in the work force and society. Rape is also a show of power and control. The US estimates “up to 700,000 rapes [each year]”. Many of these rapes occur in prisons, and it is well known that the US has one of the largest inmate-counts in the world. This just reiterates the desire for control and power in our society. Rape is not about the sex the majority of the time, it is about establishing power, and when one does not have the ultimate say in what their life is (in prison) control can be established through rape. This nation’s obsession with power and control has taken a serious toll on the people that make up the US.
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I just wrote a paper for my feminist ethics class about how prostitution is emotionally demeaning towards women; I think it's really interesting how some women find themselves empowered by such a demeaning and illegal act. In the end though, I think it breaks women down, and it encourages men to see women as sexual objects.
ReplyDeleteTo add to my previous comment...
ReplyDeleteThe sex trade industry goes far deeper than many are aware of. Women and girls in many different nations are kidnapped or sold to brothels by their families. These brothels sell sex with girls as young as eight. When these girls attempt to run away, they are savagely beaten and raped in order to teach them a lesson. What can we as a nation do to help some of these girls? We have no legal jurisdiction over these nations like Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, where these brothels are rampant. If we cannot use legal action to help these girls and to punish these cruel brothel owners, then what can we do? The governments of these nations have made these brothels illegal, yet they do little to nothing to end them. Police officials are even known to frequent these brothels themselves; not to mention that the sex trafficking industry makes up a large part of their GDP.
What, then, can we do to help these girls? Should we start some sort of underground system where we secretly take the girls away to a shelter where they cannot be kidnapped or hurt again? Possible, but a little far-fetched.
In this case, it's difficult to impose our western ideals onto other foreign countries; as much as it hurts to see these poor women, I doubt that much could be done to help them. In most cases, their families, friends, and government have turned their backs on them.
I watched a fascinating documentary on dateline about the children in Cambodia that are being sold into the prostitution industry. Here is a link to it:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14483961/