On October 7, 2001, in response to the 9/11 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan, thus commencing the War on Terror. A month later, on November 17, Laura Bush made a radio address regarding Afghan women, marking the first time the White House assigned the President’s weekly radio address to the First Lady (Gerstenzang and Getter). Laura Bush condemned the Taliban’s treatment of women and children and appealed to the public for solidarity against the Taliban regime (“President’s wife makes radio address to Afghan women”). While seemingly innocent, the underlying messaging is problematic and warrants examination. Laura Bush’s stance, despite its superficial feminist intent, may have caused more harm than good. I will argue that Bush’s speech employed harmful Orientalist tropes, such as Afghan women needing rescue by Western, particularly American forces. These tropes, which include stereotypes of helpless Afghan women and violent Afghan men, were used to depict America’s supposed moral superiority, thus justifying its military intervention.
Bush’s speech about of Afghan women detailed the restrictions and harsh punishments imposed upon them (“President’s wife makes radio address to Afghan women”). While this is true, the consequence of assigning complete victimhood to these women and children is more nuanced. As explained by Shalhoub-Kevorkian, victimizing is an effective way to appeal to others for compassion and solidarity, but it also risks strengthening stereotypes of weak, passive Comisso 2 women (47). Bush’s statements imply that the only solution here is the American “fight against terrorism” which attempts to justify the American invasion of Afghanistan (“President’s wife makes radio address to Afghan women”). Her speech also disregards the efforts of local women’s activist groups, such as the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). RAWA has been organizing for democracy and secularism since its foundation in 1977 and has recruited members from ethnic minorities and women from lower socioeconomic class (Fluri 38). However, they have also consistently protested military intervention from the Soviet Union and the United States, which ultimately left them at odds with proponents of American interventionism (Chiovenda 19). Moreover, the mere fact that it was Laura Bush making this speech instead of her husband, points to a weak attempt at making the issue only about women. Perhaps the focus on women is a consequence of their transformation into symbols of a national identity and culture (Abu-Lughod 3). From an Orientalist feminist lens, Bush’s presence creates a dichotomy of a ‘liberated’, woman as the symbol of the culturally superior, democratic America and an oppressed woman as a symbol of the backwardness of Afghanistan. By silencing the voices of Afghan women, and superimposing an American military agenda onto the issue, the Bush administration created an anti-feminist approach to the War on Terror.
The focus on the victimization of women and children ignores the male victims of violence, which reflects another Orientalist stereotype: that of violent, traditional, ‘Oriental’ men. The deliberate exclusion of Afghan men from victimhood and transnational solidarity is best explained by Spivak’s phrase, “White men are saving brown women from brown men” (92). This quote is found in many works on Orientalism, but it bears repeating here because it succinctly describes the fearmongering around ‘Oriental’ men, and how only America can Comisso 3 defend human rights. These stereotypes of ‘Oriental’ men as violent extremists depict any young boy, or man, as a potential threat (Mikdashi). This inherently gendered view of who gets to be a victim, and who is a potential threat applies not only to Afghanistan, but to the entirety of the War on Terror discourse (Mikdashi). However, RAWA’s inclusion of male allies challenges this stereotype: RAWA is supported by men, who partner with women to assist them in situations where mahram (family) escorts are the norm (Fluri 40-41). Much like Western social movements or feminist groups, men are considered indispensable allies. Edward Said explained that the study of Orientalism is “more particularly valuable as a sign of European-Atlantic power over the Orient than it is a veridic discourse about the Orient” (6). This statement is highly relevant when examining Bush’s statement, as it allows for an analysis of what American values are being implied when discussing Afghan women. This argument is echoed by Shalhoub-Kevorkian, who expresses that silencing the victims of violence renders the intentions of the perpetrator highly visible (57). Bush makes an interesting closing statement, where she expresses her gratitude for “all the blessings of American life” (“President’s wife makes radio address to Afghan women”). This comment is a perfect example of Orientalist feminism, as it places the United States as morally superior to ‘the Orient’ because of its supposed commitment to democracy and respect for human rights (as implied in the campaign title, Operation Enduring Freedom). However, the United States is also complicit in this violence, through its aid of the Taliban’s initial invasion of Afghanistan in 1996 (ShalhoubKevorkian 57) and continued military involvement (Chiovenda 19). This goes to show that America does not unilaterally defend human rights but challenges its own stereotype by acting according to military interests, which undermines the values it supposedly stands for. Comisso 4 This paper sought to summarize the Orientalist stereotypes in Laura Bush’s radio address. Unlike the picture painted by the speech, Afghan women are not passive victims of violence, who seek liberation via the United States’ military intervention. While there are feminist issues in Afghanistan that are worth discussing, dictating who among the population is worthy of compassion and solidarity is not productive. In addition, while I often referred to Laura Bush in this paper, she is not the enemy. Scapegoating Laura Bush for the actions of the entire American government is also unproductive and disregards the deeply rooted beliefs of Western institutions. This paper was also my personal exercise in interrogating Western/American imperialist, interventionist narratives. It is worth mentioning that Afghanistan is but one of the many countries that is affected by the Orientalist discourse; the stereotypes that were employed in this case are also used against other countries. Returning to Said’s work, it is important to remember that while the Orient/Occident divide is more mythical than geographical, the politics, knowledges, and violence it has produced are very much real (5).
This photo was taken by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona, in London. My original plan was to use a photo of a RAWA protest in Afghanistan, but there were no open-source photos available. This photo was sourced through a website that provides free, open-source images. The women in this photo are protesting Taliban rule and show solidarity with the Afghan refugees, as well as those who are oppressed by the Taliban. I chose this photo because it shows Afghan people, protesting for their own beliefs, which is the opposite of what Laura Bush did (i.e. speaking for Afghan women from a place of privilege with military interests).
Works Cited
Abu-Lughod, Lila. “Introduction: Feminist Longings and Postcolonial Conditions.” Remaking Women, Princeton University Press, 1998, pp. 3-32, doi.org/10.1515/9781400831203- 003.
Chiovenda, Melissa Kerr. “Unequal Virtual Terrains: Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).” South Asian Survey, vol. 20, no. 1, 2013, pp. 6–21, doi.org/10.1177/0971523114559815.
Fluri, Jennifer L. “Feminist-Nation Building in Afghanistan: An Examination of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).” Feminist Review, vol. 89, no. 1, 2008, pp. 34–54, doi.org/10.1057/fr.2008.6.
Gerstenzang, James, and Lisa Getter. “Laura Bush Addresses State of Afghan Women.” LA Times, 18 November 2001. www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-18-mn-5602- story.html
Mikdashi, Maya. “Can Palestinian Men be Victims? Gendering Israel’s War on Gaza.” Jadaliyya, 23 July 2014, www.jadaliyya.com/Details/30991 “President’s wife makes radio address to Afghan women.” YouTube, uploaded by AP Archive, 21 July 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv1xZ_Nusgo Said, Edward W. Introduction. Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient, Penguin Modern Classics, 2003, pp. 1-28, q.utoronto.ca/courses/336663/files/29843793/download?download_frd=1
Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera. “Violent Translations: Women, War, and Narrative in Conflict Zones.” Militarization and Violence against Women in Conflict Zones in the Middle East, 2009, pp. 41–76, doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511626852.002.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: a Reader, edited by Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman, Routledge, 2013, pp. 66-111. doi.org/10.4324/9781315656496-13.
Unuabona, Ehimetalor Akhere. “Group of People Holding Banner: Stop Killing Afghan Protest in London.” Unsplash, 22 August 2021, https://unsplash.com/photos/group-of-people-holding-banner-5vJTYqEYUQM?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash
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