Lançado em março desse ano, discute questões de gênero a partir do caso de Abu Ghraib. Para quem não lembra: em 2004, vazaram fotos de prisioneiros sendo torturados e humilhados por militares americanos nas dependências da prisão iraquiana. Entre os torturadores, duas jovens americanas sorridentes: Lynndie England e Sabrina Harman.
O caso foi também recontado pela peça "Palácio do Fim", com Camila Morgado no papel de Sabrina.
" the focus of this book is a social and cultural theoretical analysis of the empirical data regarding the prison abuse that occurred at abu ghraib prison in iraq by american forces. The empirical data provided is drawn primarily from my first-hand qualitative research that involved participant-observation of Lynndie England’s and sabrina harman’s courts-martials, interaction with soldiers and officers, and analysis of documents pertaining to the trials as well as the photographs of abuse themselves, among other things" (...) "given that the U.s. military is not a bastion of feminism, this analysis is important for several reasons: showing how power functions within abu ghraib and also for interpreting and illuminating the gendered and homoerotic torture that took place there as well."
Sobre o entendimento da noção de gênero como relacional - pode parecer besteira, mas é sempre bom lembrar que nada é por si, tudo é em relação. A gente dá voltas e voltas pra chegar em alguma coisa que já estava n'O Totemismo Hoje...
"My approach to understanding gender is that gender as a sociological concept is multifaceted, based on power relations, and has to do with performances of individual, cultural and symbolic meaning constructions, where identity is constituted through these performances. Gendering is something that is “done” (either something we do, or something that is done to us), it is a process and an action, and a metaphysical transformation so to speak. gendering is always in reference to a “code” such as a context, a culture, or a symbol rich with meaning, and these “codes” have to do with power. Bodies can be gendered, so can roles, expectations, spaces and environments, commands, organizations and institutions, fashions, theoretical viewpoints, and advertisements, to name a few. in this way, gender is a process metaphysics, a system of becoming, a performance process, an adjective of sorts, a means for identity construction, as well as a tool or thematic for analysis. gender functions as code with power infused within its understandings—where even the analysis of power itself can be examined and understood as “gendered.” what i think is most important within discussions of gender is not only theoretically important conversations about gender (its “code”) rich with detail and example, but also critical engagement and thought about how gender is policed, produced by and for us, consumed, and other ways power makes complex the relations of gender."
