Wartime rape as strategic weapon in selected contemporary plays written in English
Wartime rape as a form of sexual violence is not a new phenomenon. It is as old as war itself. Misconceptions and mischaracterization of wartime rape as a natural byproduct of war, spoils of war and a biological need have reinforced its acceptance as a natural aspect of war. Moreover, marginal...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/67414/1/FBMK%202017%2039%20IR.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/67414/ |
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| Summary: | Wartime rape as a form of sexual violence is not a new phenomenon. It is as old as
war itself. Misconceptions and mischaracterization of wartime rape as a natural byproduct
of war, spoils of war and a biological need have reinforced its acceptance as
a natural aspect of war. Moreover, marginalizing wartime rape as a feminist issue
expels it from being weaponized as a political strategy. Also, there is a gendered
misconception of rape casting man and woman to certain sexual patterns that man is
the ultimate perpetrator of rape whereas woman is the sole victim due to the myth of
man’s invulnerability to rape. Furthermore, the exclusion of man from being a victim
of wartime rape and justifying it as a homosexual act is another misconception.
However, with the changing face of contemporary wars, the use of traditional
weapons becomes unsatisfactory. Thus, the current study argues that wartime rape is
adopted as an effective tactic and weapon of war used massively in contemporary
wars to advance certain strategic military and political goals. Therefore, the first
objective of this study is to examine the strategic function of wartime rape in the
selected dramatic texts in light of the Strategic Rape Theory to refute the
misconception that wartime rape is a consequence and to examine its weaponization
at war. The second objective is to explore women rape by men away from the
definitions of misogyny and patriarchy in light of the Strategic Rape Theory and the
Social Constructionist Concept. The third objective is to investigate the acts of
wartime rape committed in the selected plays to refute the misconception that rape
is gender-specific depending on the Social Constructionist Concept and to
investigate the mechanism of rape’s victimization and perpetration. The study
depends on Jonathan Gottschall’s Strategic Rape Theory (2004) and Inger
Skjelsbaek’s Social Constructionist Concept (2001) in the analysis of the selected
plays. The significance of the study lies in challenging these misconceptions and
setting strategizing wartime rape’s conception instead. The study offers a complete
explanatory framework that recognizes the weaponization of rape at warfare as a
violent political act inserting men and women as victims and perpetrators rather than as an individual act mobilized by biological and social powers. Sarah Kane’s Blasted
(1995), Colleen Wagner’s The Monument (1995), Lynn Nottage’s Ruined (2007),
and Judith Thompson’s Palace of the End (2007) are selected for the study. They are
selected because they show how sex is weaponized and militarized in the
contemporary war by depicting new patterns of rape. The selection of playwrights of
different nationalities and cultures is justified due to the universality of the strategic
aspect of wartime rape. The study concludes that war rape is not a violent expression
of sexual desire but a sexual expression of violence to terrorize, eradicate, and
humiliate a whole nation for strategic outcomes according to certain political agenda.
Moreover, it concludes the existence of a relationship between rape and the strategic
choices of the military and political leadership. |
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