I am reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Dias in an English course titled Sex and Global City. In the novel, Trujillo (actual dictator in the Dominican Republic from 1930-1961, political and military leader) is known to be a womanizer who sleeps with thousands of very young women that have little choice in the matter. Through class discussions in my English course, we have determined that Trujillo is subduing the people of the Dominican Republic by wielding his power through sex, with women's bodies as a central manipulation point. There are obvious connections between Trujillo and Borislav Herak (in “Men in Militias, Women as Victims” chapter by Enloe). In some ways, Trujillo embodies a conception of Dominican masculinity and thus leads many men to follow his ways and rape and sexually assault women, though it is clear that Trujillo also "unmans" his fellow Dominican men by subordinating them and their daughters to him. The society is riddled with a paralyzing fear; both the imagined potential and the reality that daughters and wives will be taken advantage of, and resistance to Trujillo's wishes will lead to severe punishment, imprisonment, or death. In this way, Trujillo’s actions are more than supremacy crimes against specific individuals; rather, he is committing supremacy crimes that are far-reaching across the entire nation.
Similarly, in the NY Times article "A Peril in War Zones: Sexual Abuse by Fellow G.I.'s," female soldiers live in fear that they could be harassed or assaulted by fellow soldiers. These issues did not exist when women weren't in the military or when only a few women served, but in more recent wars, women have served in much higher numbers so this reality has developed. Like Trujillo's absolute power over his people, commanders and hierarchies existing within the military make it difficult to report incidents and prosecute appropriately. As Enloe points out, nationalistic military men “were socialized to kill by a steady stream of assignments devised in Berlin over several months, assignments that gradually escalated in their levels of dehumanizing harshness” (Enloe 111). The increasing prevalence of rape in the military places women as victims who are “more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq” (Myers 3, 28 Dec. 2009). Also, men in military/political positions who are compelled to rape thousands of women dehumanize the women and themselves, as sex is consumed by violence and indifference. It is unlikely that sex could be meaningful in any circumstance for men who rape numerous women and sex becomes scarred with violence for the women who are victims.
I thought it was interesting how Amy connected this weeks readings to the book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I also took the english class, Sex and the Global city but that was not one of the books we read. I found it interesting though, because in our class there were many connections between rape victims and the power of their assaulter. I never thought of the connections until Amy made the comparison in her blog. Power is a reason to rape in many cases of War. Reading a paper in my Human Rights class talks about the power of rape and how it can be used as a weapon of war. Gaining the power over one community and the fear that comes with it. This reminds me of Cynthia Enloes article "A Peril in War Zones" because of the power the Bosnian army had over the women they captured. It is supposed to bring up the men's morale but really most of them just felt guilty. Rape can be a powerful thing, because you are taking the power from the woman, and its hard to get that power back once it is gone.
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