Why Tourism Matters

“Why Tourism Matters” is a very informative article that deals with, quite obviously, tourism.  I was amazed to learn that tourism, in the general sense of the term, is not a recent phenomenon.  The article reveals that even back in Imperial Rome, tourism was a part of people’s lives that were able to afford it.  Although the reasons have changed, back then it was for trade or pilgrimage while today it is for the experience and leisure, tourism still applies the same basic elements.  It is something that people strive for, and it is something that benefits the locations where tourists flock.  Not surprisingly, tourism creates a positive economic impact in the region visited, so it is beneficial for tourist destinations to do all they can to promote their country are region to those potential tourists.  Along with the money and jobs that tourism help to create, tourism can also benefit a place culturally.  Because tourists want the “full experience”, those hosting the tourists find a strong sense of cultural pride and awareness in order to give the tourists what they want.

Heading Home

“Heading Home: Women, Work, and Identity in America” was one of the most interesting articles I have had the chance to read in this class to date.  It focuses on the issues that women, especially well-educated women, have with trying to pursue a successful professional career, while also balancing being a mother.  As is sadly too often the case, many women have to give up their careers in the best interests of their kids and family, and that is not something that seems particularly fair.  Although most of the women interviewed all said that basically when it came down to it, they placed their family and children above their own personal ambitions.  A promising point in the article is the fact that the “stay at home dad” is an increasingly growing role, yet still only accounts for 3 out of every 100 cases.  In order for women to continue to make advancements in the labor force in terms of opportunities for secure jobs and better wages, we (the United States) must make strides to help these women out as well.

Symbolizing Roles: Behind the Veil

“Symbolizing Roles: Behind the Veil” is a very interesting article that focuses on an issue that has become a major focal point in the past decade or so: that is the laws requiring Islamic women to wear veils, or a hijab, that covers most, or sometimes all of their body.  The West overwhelmingly feels that this is a huge impingement on women’s rights in that society.  The veil to Westerners symbolizes oppression on a personal level, as well as symbolizing oppression in other aspects of their lives including laws that make it more difficult for them to acquire the same education as men, being able to divorce as easily, and in same cases forbidding them to even drive.  In all reality, the hijab is not necessarily something that the average Muslim woman despises.  They are very practical for a number of reasons ranging from easily hiding their identity and symbolizing they are not free to be had by any man who may desire them, especially for all the wrong reasons, to providing easy protection from the sun, dust, and mud from getting on their clothing.  After reading this article, it seems that Muslim women are not entirely against wearing the hijab, because it is in many cases a very practical and religiously significant article of clothing, and that is something that Westerners are too lazy or naïve to research.

Manipulating Meaning: The Military Name Game

“Manipulating Meaning: The Military Name Game” is an article that takes a brief look at the evolution of naming military operations, including recent controversial names of operations that have seemed to become more and more offensive.  This article was very interesting due to the information it provides on how the military began naming operations back in World War II after the Germans started the trend, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill set a basic framework for how to choose the names themselves.  Nowadays we are far removed from large-scale warfare, and the need for generating such nicknames has lost its significance.  That has paved the way for individuals to give operations names based on their personal preference, and usually they do so in order to help the public perception of the operation.  The example they give is the name decided on for America’s retaliation to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which we named our military response “Enduring Freedom”, which was meant to appeal to the average American’s sense of patriotism.

The Rashomon Effect

The Rashomon effect was a very interesting article pertaining to different points of views and how easily something can be viewed one way or another and make sense.  This is very helpful when starting up in Anthropology because it gives some insight into the fact that not every ethnographer is going to see eye-to-eye, and that is crucial.  Using the classic Japanese film, "Rashomon", as a guiding light, it is easier to dissect this idea.  The film is about an event that is recalled four different ways by four different people, each being shown visually and each just as plausible as the next.  This is a reasonable enough analogy for ethnographers worldwide.  If an ethnographer from the United States and an ethnographer from one of the Koreas were to go to a neutral location to conduct fieldwork, each may observe the same things but interpret them in completely different ways.

Life in Debt

The film "Life in Debt - Jamaica"was a very eye-opening look at Jamaica's economy on both the micro and macro level.  It was unbelievable to see how the average person, as well as the country itself, is suffering because of the rest of the world.  After gaining independence from Great Britain in the 1960's, the IMF stepped in to "help" Jamaica to persevere without the help of a major country/economy such as Great Britain to back them.  The result has been less than satisfactory.  While the rest of the world, including the US, benefits from abusing Jamaica's weak economy, the Jamaicans themselves are suffering heavily.  Most people lack proper jobs to supports themselves and their families, and there is no easy escape because Jamaicans lack the money and the opportunities to move elsewhere, such as the United States.  Seeing the seemingly endless struggle of the average Jamaican, whether it was a factory worker or a farmer, was honestly depressing.  There seems to be no real hope in sight as long as the IMF and the United States are profiting from Jamaica in an unfair way.

Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?

This article written by Lila Abu-Lughod gives a logical look at America’s current “War on Terror” taking place in the Middle East, most notably in Afghanistan.  Abu-Lughod focuses more specifically on how America uses the issue of oppressive laws by the Taliban against women in Afghanistan as a way to justify war.  We as Americans are so narrow-minded when it comes to dealing with the rest of the world, especially the Middle East, that we truly do not take the time to even attempt to understand the history and cultural situation in that region of the world.  In America, the burqa is a symbol of oppression and sexual discrimination.  Do we ever stop to consider what the burqa means in the context of a Middle Eastern woman herself?  Do we ever consider that maybe there are more pressing problems than something as small as a burqa?  This is not to suggest that the laws and regulations regarding the burqa are not negative, but we definitely tend to focus on select issues, and not take time to consider other ones.