50
Used, New, and Out of Print Books - We Buy and Sell - Powell's Books
Cart |
|  my account  |  wish list  |  help   |  800-878-7323
Hello, | Login
MENU
  • Browse
    • New Arrivals
    • Bestsellers
    • Featured Preorders
    • Award Winners
    • Audio Books
    • See All Subjects
  • Used
  • Staff Picks
    • Staff Picks
    • Picks of the Month
    • Bookseller Displays
    • 50 Books for 50 Years
    • 25 Best 21st Century Sci-Fi & Fantasy
    • 25 PNW Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books From the 21st Century
    • 25 Memoirs to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Global Books to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Women to Read Before You Die
    • 25 Books to Read Before You Die
  • Gifts
    • Gift Cards & eGift Cards
    • Powell's Souvenirs
    • Journals and Notebooks
    • socks
    • Games
  • Sell Books
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Find A Store

PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media − and booksellers.

Review-a-Day

The Brutality of War -- And Its Aftermath -- On Women

by Review-a-Day, September 22, 2010 12:00 AM
War Is Not Over When It's Over: Women Speak Out from the Ruins of WarWar Is Not Over When It's Over: Women Speak Out from the Ruins of War by Ann Jones

Reviewed by Curt Schleier

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Every morning as part of their ritual, some orthodox Jewish men recite a prayer thanking God that they are not women. After reading Ann Jones' War Is Not Over When It's Over: Women Speak Out From the Ruins of War (Metropolitan Books, 256 pages, $25), men of all faiths might want to make that part of their daily routine.

Jones is an expert in the field of violence against women, a subject she has written about previously. What she brings to the fore here is sadly often overlooked in discussions of the world politic: In some areas, men can subject women to barbaric levels of brutality with impunity. Women -- even infants -- are sadistically raped, beaten and murdered in ways that cannot be described in a newspaper.

However, the book raises a chicken-or-egg question that it doesn't answer. On one hand, Jones believes that war creates the problem. "When rape is used as a tactic of war, it becomes a habit hard to break, popularized by soldiers and civilians."

But she also writes "if men in peacetime routinely view their wives as indentured laborers in the field and in bed, why shouldn't soldiers in wartime also view women as slaves to be impressed for labor or sexual servitude?"

Does it make a difference which came first? Yes, if only because you have to know what causes a disease before you can cure it. And while the two -- war and culture -- are not mutually exclusive and likely feed off each other, most of the book seems to point to the latter.

A woman has her arm broken and is raped because she let her daughter go to gymnastics class. The husband of another stuck a carving knife in her belly because she did not promptly obey him.

Time magazine's recent cover photo of a woman, Aisha, who had her nose and ears sliced off by her Taliban husband, lends further testimony to the savagery many women face. She'd been given to his family when she was 12 years old to settle a blood feud. When she reached puberty, she was married to the Taliban fighter, who used her as a slave and frequently beat her. She ran away. He caught her and disfigured her in retribution.

How do you deal with something like that? Jones volunteered with the International Rescue Committee and participated in a project that gave digital cameras to women and asked them to photograph both the high and low points of their lives. The resulting photos provided a voice for women who'd previously been voiceless. Their photos were physical evidence of the abuse. In some cases, it led to husbands becoming more caring and village chieftains more involved in correcting these problems.

Because of fiscal and other restraints, it was a small project, with only a couple of hundred women involved. Still, they say the longest journey begins with the first step. War Is Not Over When It's Over is an important second step.

Curt Schleier is a book reviewer in New Jersey.




{1}
##LOC[OK]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##
{1}
##LOC[OK]## ##LOC[Cancel]##

Most Read

  1. Best Books of 2022: Fiction by Powell's Staff
  2. The Big List of Backlist: Books That Got Us Through 2022 by Powell's Staff
  3. 25 Books to Read Before You Die: 21st Century by Powell's Staff
  4. Powell's 2023 Book Preview: The First Quarter by Powell's Staff
  5. 7 Essential Authors Recommend Their 7 Essential Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books by Powell's Staff

Blog Categories

  • Interviews
  • Original Essays
  • Lists
  • Q&As
  • Playlists
  • Portrait of a Bookseller
  • City of Readers
  • Required Reading
  • Powell's Picks Spotlight

Post a comment:

*Required Fields
Name*
Email*
  1. Please note:
  2. All comments require moderation by Powells.com staff.
  3. Comments submitted on weekends might take until Monday to appear.
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram

  • Help
  • Guarantee
  • My Account
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Security
  • Wish List
  • Partners
  • Contact Us
  • Shipping
  • Transparency ACT MRF
  • Sitemap
  • © 2023 POWELLS.COM Terms