by Dan Chan
Daily Texan (U. Texas-Austin)
(U-WIRE) AUSTIN, Texas — Doesn’t everyone hate it when their younger sibling plays the sympathy card to get out of trouble? Or when someone exaggerates a colossal disaster in an attempt to fight for a minuscule cause? Aren’t people perplexed when the gardener ignores the weeds and goes after the tulip?
Apparently not. Some activists do not realize that when we mumble the clichÇ “this means war,” it is supposed to only mean war. Nothing else.
Somebody better tell that to Suzanne Fields, columnist for The Washington Times, who used the war as a pedestal to express her opinion about rap music and sexism in the United States’ pop culture.
Fields notes that women enrollment is up to 15 percent of the entire military. She claims “men are reverting to big-time piggery as women invade traditional male turf. You can hear the snorts, grunts and oinks throughout the pop culture.” She exploits all the brave soldiers when she goes on to condemn rap music because of its derogatory language and connects it with “male chauvinism” in the military. Fields ridiculously attempts to link chauvinism in rap music to the war in Iraq. When she decided to take advantage of the war effort by drawing attention to her opinion about pop culture, she took advantage of those serving their country.
The sad part is that Fields does not need to use the war to back up her points. She writes for a big-time newspaper, and there are many people that share her views. It is unnecessary to use the war to criticize rap music. It may gather sympathy and attention, but that doesn’t make it right.
Even worse is Martha Burk, who conveniently uses the recent war to strengthen her stance on women’s golf. Burk believes that “the war in a certain way has enhanced our message” and goes on to talk about women serving the country. She then argues that women’s fighting in the military is reason enough for Augusta National to change their golf policies. Never mind that most men in the military aren’t eligible to golf in the snobbish club; these connections between war and golf are pretty insulting.
Using the war to draw publicity towards one’s cause is morally wrong.
Whether or not Burk is right about women in Augusta is beside the point. Drawing any type of correlation between soldiers risking their lives in the battlefield and rich folks wanting to play golf is absurd. It pointlessly draws attention to a cause quickly losing exposure, and it does so in a tasteless manner. The struggle to allow women into the Augusta National Golf Club has been a fierce topic, but using the war for publicity warrants about as much respect as that of someone screaming to a crowd that has lost attention.
Note to Burk: The war on Iraq is about Iraq, not about golf. There is no logical way to link women’s rights on a golf course to international affairs. Perhaps the sole reason Burk feels making the connection is necessary is to put some more coverage back on her own issue.
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Some of those fanatically linking the war effort to these all high and mighty causes have gone relatively unnoticed. During an anti-war protest in Palo Alto, Calif., some abortion rights and animal rights believers were there fighting for their cause. One protester made a sign quoting Mohandas Gandhi: “The most violent weapon on Earth is the table fork. Go Vegan.”
Others carried anti-abortion signs. In an attempt to draw attention to themselves, people choose to use the publicity generated by the war to support their own beliefs.
The war effort is complicated enough in itself. What everyone doesn’t need is self-created and hyped-up issues. Is it too hard to notice that this war has absolutely nothing to do with golf and rap music?
Using the war as a platform to further a cause is insulting to those involved. It is selfish and it is wrong. When politicians use a tragedy to bolster support, the public condemns them. These so-called activists should be condemned, too.
