Saddam’s Noose “Disturbing” but Women’s Deaths are Not

/ mysteryofiniquity

My hubby and I were watching News channels this morning on TV and heard one commentator say that seeing Saddam with a noose around his neck was disturbing to Western viewers. OH? But, hey, they even put a cloth around his neck to soften the blow. My husband made the excellent point that in the Middle East, a 16 year old girl was hanged for “promiscuity” and yet, that’s not disturbing??? No one gives them cloths to shield themselves with. No one mentions daily occurrence of women shot, hanged, stoned, or burned to death by their male “owners” nor do they make it the focus of their news stories.

It’s sickening the propaganda coming out of news channels (Al Jazeera included) in the East and West. It’s also sickening the attention given to one man instead of the thousands of women killed daily because of fundamentalist extremists.

Why is this disturbing and why does it promote outrage around the world:

Saddam's death

 

But this does not:

woman executed

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2 thoughts on “Saddam’s Noose “Disturbing” but Women’s Deaths are Not”

  1. Happy new year, Ann! 🙂

    I think the “why” is circumstantial. I am almost certain that if Saddam had been a woman and they treated him like that, the outrage would have been far greater. The question here isnt about male or female its about media hype. If newspapers started writing big front page stories everyday sensationalising the second picture and the true news stories behind it, people would get up for it. Not as much as for this story though, because here power, authority, humiliation, invasion, war, hate, and other things are involved. It’s got all the ingredients that “sell”. Thats why this news is sensationalised instead of the “smaller” but more horrible news is swept under the carpet.

    As Jeremiah said “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. Who can understand it?”

    Diana

  2. So true Diana, but I do believe there is an ugly undercurrent of deep unconcern about women’s deaths as opposed to prominent men’s deaths that goes beyond sensationalizing the news. It’s a deep-seated sexism that is inherent in these kinds of cultures. This is far more dangerous. Thanks for the comment.

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