Venezuelan strike beginning to fail

[David Schanoes]

The issues are:  1. this person's conflict is in no way equivalent to Rosa
Park's.  2. to link it with that struggle is to obscure the real social
dynamics at work in both cases.  3. No, there should be no support for any
subjugation of women.  4. This woman is an officer, not an enlisted person.
When you turn the guns around, you turn them on the officers.  5. Is the
solution to advocate that the USAF stand fast on the rights of female
officers to wear pants and skirts in Riyadh? Of course not. Instead, anyone
on the "left," should insist on the immediate withdrawal of all US military
forces and materiel from all other countries.  I personally oppose the
quartering of the US military anywhere on the globe, including the soil of
the US. 6. This officer's problem with her own bosses is at best another
glimpse into capital's desire, need, to link itself with the most
reactionary, backward, formations in order to maintain its power.

If the issue were explained in that way then a service instead of a
disservice would have been done to the struggle of those like Rosa Parks,
who were just too damn tired to take any crap any more.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: <JBrown72073 at cs.com>
To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 4:54 PM
Subject: Re: Venezuelan strike beginning to fail


> >On Tue, 31 Dec 2002 14:08:06 -0500 "David Schanoes" <dmsch at attglobal.net>
> >writes:
> >> App 4-6 months ago, Counterpunch first printed an article about a
> >> female USAF combat officer stationed in the Mideast who was required
(and
> >> battling the requirement) that she conform to the community standards
for
> >> womens' attire in the Moslem area.
>
> So we're for women in the military to be required to wear burkahs,
prohibited
> from driving, and to not be seen giving orders to male soldiers?  Is this
> some misplaced respect for Saudi anti-woman apartheid?  Or disgust that
U.S.
> bases themselves are not criticised in favor of close examination of a
sexist
> wrinkle on the face of the imperial war machine?  Or frustration that
> feminism only rates when it's USAF officers or CEOs?  I'm with you there,
but
> even women cops and military women need equality--if you ever want the
> military on your side you better hope the officer corps is not composed
> entirely of embittered white frat boys.
>
> Jenny Brown