INR Blog post 3

 In this blog post I will be responding and analyzing Laura Sjoberg's book in regard to gender and war crimes. In this article, Sjoberg does a great job explaining how her arguments are not intentionally meant to be contradictory, but that gender is not natural, but that it is present inherently in war. Where I agree with Sjoberg is that war is definitely gendered. Generals, politicians, and soldiers are majority men, while the women are seen those who need to be protected during war. Furthermore, if a country cannot properly defend their women, then they are considered weak. Its very eye opening how although women don’t start the wars, they are the ultimately the large victims of war. As mentioned by Sjoberg, women face large amounts of political, economic, and social hardships during war. Just to break it down, a woman is asked to not only take the bulk of the responsibility to raise a child, but also find a way to make money. This situation is even harder during war because the majority of the time the man is off fighting, usually in a different country. In addition to this difficult situation, women also have to deal with being misrepresented and less likely to get a job than a man.

            Focusing more on the specific elements in the book, Sjoberg also did a good job in explaining the impacts of war, genocide, and sex crimes on preexisting conditions and notions of gender. During war, Sjoberg mentioned that these economic, social, and political hardships are heightened and increase victimization among women, which is also a way in which gender constructs disproportionately impact women during war. I found especially interesting Sjoberg’s critique of realism in war. In Sjoberg’s book, she describes decisions based on realism most of the time is manufactured security. After reading this what came to mind was the number of countries that base their decisions on realism. Realism to me is more of a paranoid approach to politics. Its also an inconsiderate one. The true impact of decision making is not motivated by the people, rather, its motivated by the overall survival of the state and the people that make up the state are essentially a non-factor to decision making.

            In terms of sexual crimes during war, I agree with Sjoberg that it is definitely a disproportionate attack on a specific gender. Although Sjoberg doesn’t deny the fact that it would be equally as heinous of an act if it occurred to a man, the fact is that it does not nearly impact men as frequently as it does to women. With that said, I deviate to something more small scale, which is rape in the United States. Men can definitely be raped, however, decision making in this process should definitely be made by women, who are raped at exponentially greater levels than men. Similarly to war, if sexual war crimes disproportionally affect women more than men, should they not be consulted or even acknowledged when a war is to take place? Also, if the “role” of men in society is to protect women, then aren’t women being put at risk due to the decisions of men? All these questions definitely need to be revised and acknowledged.

            Overall, reading this article made me stop and look at war in a different lens and acknowledge the effects that it has on people, particularly women. Prior to reading this article, I tended to focus on the soldiers that would risk their lives in order to protect a country, but I failed to realize that there are other concepts, atrocities, and disproportionality in war. Although soldiers can be though of as victims of war, it is paramount to consider the other victims of war that should be as apparent as them. Furthermore, it is particularly alarming that some countries don’t take the risk of sexual war crimes into considerations when it comes to war. This topic particularly speaks to me because I personally have an uncle who went to war, and the mental, social, and financial weight that my aunt at the time had to undergo was painful to watch and I’m sure it was especially painful for her to endure. With that said, I genuinely enjoyed this piece by Sjoberg and would recommend it to any one interest in international relations and the role of feminism in IR.