Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide - Essay Example

inserts his/her full Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide In this book, Andrea depicts a woman’s sexuality as both painful and provocative. The underlying theme in both the chapters is the abuse of woman’s sexuality as a by-product of patriarchal and colonial setups. While the preceding chapters form the basis for explaining the historical roots of genocide, chapters 3 provides instances of such violence. Essentially, the chapter titled ‘rape of land’ explains the authority that males exercise over females’ sexuality owing to patriarchal and colonial backgrounds that results in complete abuse of nature and its products (Smith).

Andrea emphasizes the role of boarding schools in the U.S for providing a platform for rape and female genocide. In chapter 4, Andrea equates land with body and the self and, therefore, views rape of the ‘land’ in terms of male sovereignty to take charge of Mother Nature. She further elaborates on the concept of ‘rape’ as being metaphorical rather than literal. Under this view, women are raped as they are ignored when cleanup activities after environmental devastation (including the presence of toxins, pollutants and chemicals) take place.

Furthermore, the chapter cites the reluctance of population control groups to eliminate issues pertaining to racism, sexism and colonialism. It describes how female bodies are harmed by the environment and how the environment reinforces traditional roles of woman as a midwife (Chorbajian). According to Andrea, the rampant rape and violation of the land has its roots in the traditional colonial and racial view of native humans as dirty and impure. This notion leads the non-natives to believe that the natives deserve having poisonous and toxic waste dumped in their environment (Chorbajian).

Because of this preconceived notion and stereotyped attitudes, no effort is made by the non-native people to get the native women out of this filthy and polluted environment. The fourth chapter further explains the exploitation of native women’s bodies to serve reproductive purposes by claiming that these women’s bodies are used for experimental purposes pertaining to reproductive and medical checkups. The author further goes on to state that racism is the key reason behind the anxieties pertaining to a soaring global population.

Although population control institutions claim to seek an ‘overall’ reduction in population (with equal reductions in the population of every race, color or creed), the results are quite the opposite (Smith). Population is, therefore, curbed on the basis of specific race or ethnicity in reality. Thus, the author put forth the case of reproductive rights, which according to her, is a masked attempt to demolish the Native American society. Andrea illustrates this notion by citing the example of a sterilization program initiated by the health institutions of India which led to the abuse of reproductive rights.

By tracing the history of sterilization programs in India from 1970’s to date, Andrea concludes that these campaigns have approached women of color to market hormonal birth control pills. The reason that the natives have suffered is because the exploiters view them as something less than human. These stereotyped views have, therefore, led to the exploitation of the natives in every sphere of life. Furthermore, it seems that reproduction by native women acts as a barrier for the colonizers who wish to establish a strong foothold on the native land.

This also forms the basis of a targeted population control campaign towards such women. Killing of such women is justified by these colonizers on the grounds that their death would limit population growth and mark the death of the native population as well. Thus, “better dead than pregnant’ describes the belief of these colonizers that women are better dead than they are alive and reproducing (Smith). To conclude, in these two chapters, Andrea convincingly demonstrates the plight of Native women who are belittled to be nothing more than pollutants in the environment that must be eradicated.

Sexual violence is viewed from the lens of racism and ethnicity thereby adding depth to the argument. The rape of these women, therefore, equals the sacred rape of land. Works CitedChorbajian, Levon. "CONQUEST: SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND AMERICAN INDIAN GENOCIDE." Humanity & Society (2007): 262. Print.Smith, Andrea. Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. Cambridge: South End Press, 2005. Print.