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Chapter 10 readings. Debra Anne Davis. Representative Works. “Fighting the Devil by Killing the Angel” – Harvard Review “Betrayed by the Angel” – Utne Reader “Fissure” – Bellevue Literary Review “A Pen by the Phone” – The Redwood Coast Review
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Chapter 10 readings Debra Anne Davis
Representative Works • “Fighting the Devil by Killing the Angel” – Harvard Review • “Betrayed by the Angel” – Utne Reader • “Fissure” – Bellevue Literary Review • “A Pen by the Phone” – The Redwood Coast Review • “Space Invader” – Center: A Journal of the Literary Arts
Betrayed by the Angel • Refers to Virginia Woolf’s Professions for Women: “It was she who used to come between me and my paper when I was writing reviews. It was she who bothered me and wasted my time and so tormented me that at last I killed her. You who come of a younger and happier generation may not have heard of her—you may not know what I mean by the Angel in the House. I will describe her as shortly as I can. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in it—in short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others. Above all—I need not say it—–she was pure.”
Professions for Women • And when I came to write I encountered her with the very first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room. Directly, that is to say, I took my pen in my hand to review that novel by a famous man, she slipped behind me and whispered: “My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure.”
Professions for Women • I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did my best to kill her. My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would be that I acted in self–defence. Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing. For, as I found, directly I put pen to paper, you cannot review even a novel without having a mind of your own, without expressing what you think to be the truth about human relations, morality, sex. And all these questions, according to the Angel of the House, cannot be dealt with freely and openly by women; they must charm, they must conciliate, they must—to put it bluntly—tell lies if they are to succeed. Thus, whenever I felt the shadow of her wing or the radiance of her halo upon my page, I took up the inkpot and flung it at her. She died hard. Her fictitious nature was of great assistance to her. It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality.
Betrayed by the Angel • It’s not polite to slam a door in someone’s face • It’s not polite to be rude • It’s not always good to be kind to everyone • “But just because I can see, understand, and believe that something is false, that it’s not right, now, doesn’t mean it won’t continue to be a part of me, always.” • She flatters and flirts with her rapist. Why? • She doesn’t fight him • She feels guilty when she isn’t polite to people, even after the rape • She was so pretty, he couldn’t resist • Did Woolf kill her angel, or did the angel kill her?
Bangladesh War’s Toll on Women Still Undiscussed • Rape as an instrument of terror • 200,000 – 400,000 women raped during 1971 war between East Pakistan and West Pakistan (East Pakistan becoming Bangladesh) • Yet it was only after the Bosnian war of 1992-1995 that rape was recognized as an instrument of terror, and the Rome Statute made rape a war crime • “Hidden beneath what I call the ‘grand Manichean narratives’ of nationhood, men on all sides of the conflict used rape as a weapon of war, looting, killing and terrorizing noncombatants. These horrors left a generation of victims and perpetrators with unspeakable trauma, trauma that included rape, loss of status and citizenship, and ‘war babies’ born as a result of these rapes.” (YasminSaikia, Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971)
Bangladesh War’s Toll on Women Still Undiscussed • “The most important lesson I learned was that while women are victimized in war, these women are far more resilient and far stronger than what the victimizers thought. Their humanity shines though all their pain. No matter what violence you do to a human being the violence is never total. Humanity is much more powerful than the violence.” (YasminSaikia, Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971) • “History is not someone else's story or purely a project for teaching and research. It is a personal encounter to know and become implicated in the shared story of the past and present” (YasminSaikia, Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971)
Rape Victims’ Words Help Jolt Congo into Change • Rape as weapon of war in Congo • 200,000 women and girls have been raped in Eastern Congo since 1998 (Anneke van Woudenberg, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch) • "Rape is being used as a weapon of war in eastern Congo. So we notice and we have documented that when armed groups walk into town, they will rape the women and girls, sometimes publicly, sometimes privately, in order to punish the local population. It's the easiest way to terrorize a community.” (Anneke van Woudenberg, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch) • While the war formally ended eight years ago, fighting persists in eastern Congo, and women are paying a high price. The majority of those who are raped are adolescent girls.
After Wars, Mass Rapes Persist • 14 year war in Liberia, 1989-2003 • As many as ¾ of women were raped • When the fighting ends, the rape continues, and many of the victims are pre-teens or younger • The war shattered norms; when men want sex, they simply overpower a girl or woman • Many girls are forced into sex with their teachers in order to get good grades • Most effective way to address rape is to demystify it and discuss it directly • Current president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, passed new rape law, which widens the definition of rape to cover penetration with any foreign object • Also, when a victim is under the age of 18, she is automatically deemed not to have given consent. • The law also covers gang rape, carrying a penalty of life imprisonment.
