During the process of establishing a national power led by the citizens of a country against colonialists, the people come together in arms to fight for what they believe in. In some cases, various individuals across the world will attest that foreigners who remain in the country will be victims of harsh treatment. The people of European descent are most likely to receive such treatment, as their countries are responsible for the colonial period. Numerous individuals across the world were against the practice of imperialism and made efforts to put an end to it. In this regard, these practices to construct nationalism against the colonial practices brought about significant roles of masculinity and femininity as is evident in the various texts.
Masculinity is evident in the essay Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell as he writes about his experience in Moulmein, Lower Burma. In this story, the young Orwell is a sub-divisional police officer of a town with thousands of Indian population. According to the practices of the colonists, the European man should not show fear in front of the natives hence bringing about a stereotype that white men are never afraid (Orwell, 1936). Throughout the story, it is clear that the role of masculinity was “useful in terrorem” (Orwell, 1936). The native Indians would be flogged using a bamboo stick that would leave marks on their buttocks. The tale barely recognizes the role of femininity at this time. However, from a glimpse of the nature of society, European women would receive significant mistreatment from the native people. When walking alone into the bazaars a person would spit betel juice on her dress a clear sign of disrespect (Ramusack, & Burton, 1994). The native women on the other hand are noted to lack any importance in the construction of Nationalism as the story identifies one woman who is trying to protect naked children from seeing violent or horrifying images.
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In the film, Sara Baartman , describes the historic figure of South African natives. The young Khoikhoi woman was a major fascination to the colonists. As the Dutch continue to expand their colonial territory in South Africa, they met Sara who grew up at a colonial farm as servants to the Europeans ( Sara , 2013). However, by the age of sixteen the Dutch colonists murdered her husband and sold her into slavery where she would work as a domestic servant to Cezar. Feminism in this story identifies the use of women as a source of entertainment and pleasure for the men. Despite the ongoing campaign against slavery that was taking place in Britain, the treatment of Sara Baartman was not similar to that of a slave ( Sara , 2013). Her large buttocks and unusual coloring of her skin ensured she was an object of fascination. She was taken to London where she was displayed as an oddity. Men and women in England paid to view Sara’s half-naked body bringing about concerns on her treatment ( Sara , 2013). It depicted a mercantile colonialism where slave trade was a common occurrence.
Femininity in the construction of nationalism while going against the imperial powers of colonization takes a major portion of texts written by Cynthia Enloe. The former identifies women taking part in construction nationalism through their evolved industrial practice. The film and music industry became popular in the early 20 th Century and it was effectively used to enhance masculinity while diminishing women. Carmen Miranda represents the link that enabled nationalism in Latin America (Enloe, 2014). She was paraded in Hollywood films and music concerts as a stereotypical Latin American despite being of European descent. The men, on the other hand, appeared to have saved humanity from militarized imperialism by enforcing the “Good Neighbor Policy” in 1940.
References
Enloe, C. H. (2014). Bananas, beaches and bases: Making feminist sense of international politics . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Orwell, G. (1936) Shooting an Elephant . Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/orwell/887/
Ramusack, B. N., & Burton, A. (1994). Feminism, imperialism and race: a dialogue between India and Britain. Women's History Review, 3 (4), 469-481.
Sara ‘Saartjie’ Baartman (2013) South African History Online, Retrieved from http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/sara-saartjie-baartman
