Reflection of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Not for Sale - Essay Example

Reflection of Stratification, Inequality, Race, Ethni and Gender in “Not For Sale” The world today is facing unprecedented social problems, suchas crime, drug, addiction, poverty, homelessness, gender discrimination, race, casteism and many more. For making a healthy society, the countries from all over the world are taking efforts by making different laws. The efforts are taken on international level also. It is the general assumption that any social problems can be solved just by throwing money. Apart from various government programs, these problems have not yet been eradicated from the global society. There is a “cultural myth” that says slavery is a thing of the past, preferring the term “slave-like conditions”to describe exploitation today. (page 5) Not for Sale is the book which throws the light on the social problems such as race, slavery, ethnicity, human exploitation, sexual abuse, child labour etc. The focus is basically on the poor countries of the world. The book is written by David Batstone, the professor of ethics in the department of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco, executive editor of Sojourners. In the book “Not for Sale,” he has depicted the callous reality of stratification, inequality, race, ethnicity and gender which is prevalent all over the world in the modern period also. According to him in till today slavery exists in 150 countries and “twenty-seven million slaves exist in our world.” (page.10) Slaves are human beings but they are treated in an inhumane way. Slavery is the second most beneficial criminal business after drug trade. The following social issues have been discussed in “Not for Sale.” Stratification: Slavery is supposed to be the most closed system of stratification. The slavery in olden days and modern days is different. Though the structure has been changed, the phenomenon has not yet been eradicated completely. According to Baston todays slaves include (a) men first taken as prisoners of war in ethnic conflicts; (b) girls and women captured in wartime or kidnapped from their neighbourhoods and used as prostitutes or sex slaves; (c) children sold by their parents to become child labourers; and (d) workers paying off debts who are abused and even tortured and too terrified to leave While telling the horrible condition of poor women the writer informs that the young women were brought from India. After their arrival to USA their passports were taken from them. They compelled to work for hours without no compensation or with less compensation. If they refused they were harassed. Batstone’s study tells that there is a widespread poverty and social inequality in many countries. The factors such as speedy industrialization and population explosion encourage slave trade. There is a wide gap between poor and rich people. The writer has stated four major reasons of being vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation. Devastating poverty Armed conflicts Rapid industrialisation An exploding population growth (page 21) Due to poverty even the parents do not hesitate to sell their tiny children. In hotels the slaves are there to work. The people from India are brought in United States for working as waiters, cooks, dishwashers and other businesses without less compensation or no compensation. They have been exploited. The human beings are born as an independent creature and he has the privilege of living his life according to his will. Every person should be treated equal. But this view is a mere idealism in today’s world where the trade of slave is still going on. David Batstone also reveals shocking information about the spiteful treatment given to the small kids. The then President of America Mr. George Bush informed that “Each year 800,000 to 900,000 human beings are bought, sold, or forced across the world’s borders,” (Page 3) Gender issue: Gender in “Not for Sale,” is basically associated with the exploitation of women. Many women are forced to indulge in flesh trade and sex workers. Batstone has given the example of Kim Metson who had been used as a domestic sex slave by the minister of local church. She has been there as a sex worker for five years. The tragedy of Kim’s parents is a different one. They had been living in a refugee camp in Southern India. She was cheated by her sister’s husband. Many times the girls are cheated by their close relatives and they were pushed into the hell of prostitution. She was initially told that she would be given education and good opportunities in America. The minister deceived her parents by promising them that he would treat her as his daughter. There she had been used for household jobs such as cleaning, cooking, ironing and sexually abused for five years by the minister. “Whenever a society faces seismic changes, the powerless suffer most.(pg.1) The writer tells about the worst condition in Cambodia where 41% of the country’s adult women are illiterate. They are poor and that is why the decisions of their lives were taken by other people. In sex industry the rate of virginity is highest. The owner of a brothel in Southeast Asia can buy a woman or a child for as little as $50. Virgins fetch anywhere from $500 to as much as $1000. To put those figures in perspective, $1000 corresponds to three and a half times the annual average income in Cambodia.” (Page 24) The author here gives one appalling experience when he went to a brothel. “The day I went undercover to investigate a brothel in Phnom Pehn, for instance, broke my heart. A brothel owner invited me to take my pick of any one of the thirteen-year-old girls that crowded the sofas in front of me. A few extra bucks and I could have two of them for the night, he offered. I could not bear to think of these little girls passing through this ritual a dozen times each night.” (Page 12) Ethnicity: The author conducted interviews with many young girls from Peru, Thailand, India, Uganda, South Africa, and Eastern Europe. All the girls affected by the brutality are from impoverishing countries. The affected people are not white people from advanced European countries or from United States. They on the other hand have been living a life in extreme poverty. The rascals take advantage of their poverty and helplessness and spoil their life. The girls from a particular race and financial status live a very safe life while financially challenge girls are likely to be at risk of sexual abuse. Human trafficking In his interview with Hannah Storm, David Batstone has informed that around 200,000 people are trafficking in bondage. (CBS News 2007) The author tells his own experience when he used to go to his favourite restaurant, he found that the work such as washing, cooking was done by small children who certainly were not the members of the family of the owner of restaurant. They were brought in United States from India. They were living a very poor life in the villages of India and they had been deceived by showing them false dreams. America for them was a dreamland and they were told that they would be assured a quality life in America. As soon as they landed on America, their visas and passport had been taken away and they were forced to live such kind of horrible life. The writer wants to show the elite community of the developed nations that there is a darkness lies on the other side of the world. The poor people are still fighting for life, fighting for their basic needs, living a life of the slaves. They are getting victimized due to their helplessness and poverty. Some of them are crushing stones; some of them are being abused sexually every day, many times. But we, so called good people are doing nothing except to feel pity for them, and I think this is the tragedy of humanity. Sources: 1. David Batstone, “Not for Sale,” 2. An interview with Hannah Storm, CBS News 2007 Read More