Week 9 Readings

the poem by Pablo Neruda,  “what’s wrong with you? i look at you and i find nothing in you but two eyes like all eyes, a mouth” and the poem countinues, the writing by pablo not only a regresive form a rotten poetry, but this type of poetry has been well acclaimed by the political radicals.

the reading talks about the “secrets, and silence” the very title suggests, the notion of a secret or several secrets that have to be hidden. The rape as a given reality understood and accepted both by women and men. rape is not only considered “normal” or a way of destroying a woman’s integrity during war etc, but is considered the most effective way to rob a woman of her emotional and physical self. for the survival of life it is important to establish the relationship between a man and woman, but this relationship has been often victimized.

Rape has always been a part of war; it is an act to destruct a woman phyiscal integrity and rob her of her emotional self, women have been raped for various reasons in war, often to demoralise the men of that society or to show the power of the men winning the war. even when the war ends it leaves back scars, emotional traumna and miseries that neither the woman nor her family can ever recover from.

During the West and East pakistan’s seperation 400,000 women of bangladesh were raped, it is not only these 400,000 women who were raped, but the effect  of their destruction would follow on to their next generations.

the act of rape is itself one of the most inhumane act, but the fear of that rape is even greater. women who have been raped know and belive that there is no way they are done and will not be raped again. it is a closed circle a fear that all women face.

the story of Natalya Gorbanesvskya, is one of a kind, a social activist charged by the government and declared insane, deals with her preganancy in the most remarkable way. she not only secures her child she remains close to her task of fighting her freedom. this case is one of a kind because it shows that a woman who can be raped is considered to be “weak” physically and her emotional condition being inferior as well, but in the case of Natalya a woman for her child or for her own well being can fight the biggest obstacles. her battle with a child in her womb can not be underestimated since a man can never go through such ordeal and save two people at one time.

the second reading Immodesty to colloboration talks about the hijab being prescribed upon all the palestinian woman. the chapter outlines how wearing the hijab is more of a political move rather than a religious one. the situation to stratify the muslim palestinian woman to the isrealis is of great value to the welbeing of the palestinian political regime. the situation and the division is very similar to that of the muslim arabia where Prophet (s.a.w) wanted his wives, and daughters to be dressed differently for security, and other pruposes. also the difference between the palestinian women the way they wear their hijab can tell each one of them apart in terms of class etc.

both the chapthers look at women and their vulnerable selves, how they are manipuated for political movements. No country before going to war thinks about the effects it would have on the civilian women etc. reading these chapters one feels that women are the primary victims of war, in this man made society which does not protect them, but decentralises their role and puts her in the midst of tortures.