Trials and Triumphs in the 9/11 Milieu

Michaele Ferguson argues that from the beginning of the 9/11 cultural milieu there was an attempt in the administration to frame gender issues in such a fashion as to support the gendered hierarchical masculinist protectionism of the national security state. This was done in more than one way. Even before the attacks, gender inequality was always characterized as a thing of the past (200), as if to draw on the Reagan era rhetoric of what James Berger in chapter 3 called America as achieved utopia. But after the attacks, gender issues were directly connected to the geopolitical scene. By doing so, the administration could create a rhetoric which would frame gender issues in accordance with two emerging cultural narratives:

The first of these is a narrative of masculinist protection. We [men] are superior to you [women] (because we are civilized or we have a democracy) and therefore must take on the role of your protector. We will go to war against those who would hurt you… The second of these narratives is that of international women’s liberation. Women’s rights at home were achieved long ago, so there is no need for feminists to agitate for them at home… So our attention is best directed toward liberating women in other countries. (210–211)