Kris' Entry
In the chapter on victimization rhetoric there are a lot of really important issues that I would like to discuss more in class, like the issues of authenticity, victim subject, and empowerment. I was especially interested in the section on “Death by culture” and dowry murders in Erotic Justice. Is it really "cultural"? Why isn't violence towards women in the United States thought of as “cultural"?
I have never thought about the violence against women campaign in such a way as Kapur describes. Is it disempowering to stereotype women as weak and helpless that need to be protected?
Kapur mentions that the British used the “oppression” of women in India as a way to legitimize colonization. It seems that the culture of a country was defined as "modern" or "barbaric "by their supposed oppression of their women. I would like to discuss how "feminism" is used in a colonial context.