This Has to Change

Jennifer Turpin enlightens the readers of “Women Confronting War” to the brutal roles that women play in war.  Turpin unveils the truth about women as the casualty, the refugee, the sexually exploited and violated, and the victim of domestic violence.  In this piece Turpin aims to make it clear that women are hugely impacted by war and that gender inequality still exists and could even be a cause of war (Turpin, p.324).  The intention of “Women Confronting War” is to blow away the assumptions that a number of people have in regards to women and their function in war.

Turpin effectively uses ethos in this piece of writing.  The introductory head note indicates that Turpin is highly credible considering her position at the University of San Francisco as well as her associated faculty position at the European University Center for Peace Studies.  She is an educated woman with a clear, concise writing style.  In each section Turpin brings up pertinent aspects of the effects of war on woman and uses credible sources to support her cause. 

The first aspect of her argument is the issue of wartime casualties.  Turpin states that women as civilians have a higher chance of being killed in war than soldiers do.  At first it seems a ridiculous statement, but the statistics that she uses to support this claim generate a compelling argument.  “While 50 percent of World War II’s casualties were civilians..... by 1990 it was a staggering 90 percent” (Turpin, p.325).

Another significant point that Turpin brings up is the fact that woman and girls make up four-fifths of the refugees displaced by war (Turpin, p.325).  This certainly puts the relationship between women and war in to perspective.  How could a person reasonably suggest that women are being “protected by “their” men” through war when they read this overwhelming statistic (Turpin, p.324)?

The example that I find the most powerful and disturbing is fact that numerous acts of sexual violence are committed during war.  At this point in the piece, Turpin makes use of the rhetorical appeal pathos.  She uses stories and situations to prove her argument that gender inequality is still in existence.  We are told of mass rapes for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, female political activists being “raped repeatedly by multiple rapists”, and even a twelve year old girl being raped by several United States Marines (Turpin, p.326).  The response of military personnel could easily be mistaken for acceptance of this brutal treatment of women, and even more so of wartime prostitution.

Turpin successfully impresses upon her reader the impact of war on women and the great need for gender equality.

War impacts women in astounding ways.  What can be done to achieve gender equality in the context of war?

Reference:
Turpin, J. (n.d.) Women confronting war.  In Ackley, K., Blank, G., & Hume, S. (Eds).    
             Perspectives on contemporary issues. (pp. 324-329). Toronto: Nelson