The article by Cynthia Enloe, “All the Men are in the Militias, All the Women are Victims,” was very poignant and I thought that her use of Borislav Herak’s story was really excellent. It kind of pointed out some of the explanations for mass rape during war, and how men with no history of violence turn into monsters. Enloe also showed the horrors of war that women suffer, and did so in a very sensitive way.
Enloe ties together the concepts of masculinity, ethnicity and nationalism and, through interviews and personal histories, uses the concepts to try and understand how men can commit unspeakable crimes during wars. Her main focus is on the Bosnian genocide, but she also discusses the Holocaust, and she compares and contrasts the two genocides.
The interview with Herak was really saddening, because it showed how easy it was for soldiers to be manipulated into not only fighting and killing other men, but also to harm and rape women and children. Herak’s story is one that I think has rarely been told, but it’s a point of view that is necessary to understanding violence and gender. I thought what was most interesting was how Herak said he felt closer to his fellow militiamen when they were together at barbecues or just drinking. The rapes were meant to bring them closer together, but instead they damaged the men and made them feel guilty.
The article really ties in with the group presentation on Women in War, and so I thought that it was an interesting perspective that we didn’t have time to talk about in class. But Enloe did a wonderful job of showcasing a personal narrative of the horrors of war and gendered violence, and it really helped me understand what women as well as men and soldiers go through in war.
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