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Don Martin on Geary 04-07-07

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 9 months ago

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

Unneeded fashion advice

Why is the Globe portraying female war correspondents as soldier sex objects?

Don Martin, National Post, 4 Jul 07

 

The way The Globe and Mail wrote it last weekend, women journalists in Afghanistan should wear a burka to keep sand out of their hair, buy special bulletproof vests to accommodate their breasts and wear mascara, the better to bat long feminine eyelashes at smitten checkpoint guards.

 

The story, under the headline "Conflict isn't pretty, but you can be," has been circulating at military headquarters. Canadian women journalists embedded here were understandably unimpressed by the outrageous smear.

 

But since they won't write the Globe to protest the piece as fictional fashion advice that portrays female war correspondents as soldier sex objects, allow me.

 

The writer of the drivel is one Jenn Gearey, who claims to have done time in Darfur, Afghanistan and Iraq as a Canadian reporter. Funny, but her name rang no bells in the media tent here and a Google search produced only fluff stories on topics like the time she had an unwanted purple elephant tattoo removed from her ankle.

 

The harsh reality is that women journalists covering the Afghanistan war are in a gender-neutral work environment and every bit the hard-nosed match of their male colleagues.

 

The two women (there are only four men) journalists here this month -- Mellissa Fung of CBC and Stephanie Levitz of Canadian Press -- join a long list of senior reporters volunteering at considerable personal risk to cover this conflict alongside soldiers.

 

Both have successfully lobbied military brass to place them in harm's-way locations where bullets are being exchanged with the Taliban and rocket-launched grenades are landing -- hazardous spots this male has yet to tread.

 

When they go out in public wearing a burka, it's not for hair protection but to stay alive in a region where female foreigners are prized kidnapping material. Even in a burka, they risk being exposed the minute they extend an uncovered arm or stumble in their unfamiliar attire.

 

Besides, there's no allowance for femininity on this base -- women share tents with snoring males at the airfield and crash on bumpy cots or hard ground while out with the troops. Never is the sound of a hair-dryer heard.

 

As CBC's Fung pointed out sarcastically, the 50 C heat would quickly sweat off the makeup and turn melting mascara into rivers of black, even if women were inclined to coat themselves in the stuff, as the story recommended.

 

The parade of Canadian women reporting this 18-month conflict has posted a proud record. Calgary Herald reporter Renata D'Aliesio went on a patrol for 17 straight days at the height of some serious Taliban activity last summer to get an up-close look at real military action. Nobody here can recall a longer stay outside the relatively safe confines of the Kandahar Air Field.

 

The Globe's Christie Blatchford is arguably the toughest, no-nonsense, get-me-to-the-front-line columnist to cover this conflict. Why she doesn't go apoplectic at her own paper making space for this hatchet job on her journalistic sisters is beyond me.

 

CTV's Lisa La Flamme was damn near hit by mortar fire while on patrol here -- and soldiers on the scene still shake their heads at how she pushed them to go deeper into danger.

 

Canadian Press writer Sue Bailey travelled inside a very dangerous Kandahar area last fall on her own for hard-to-get interviews on the plight of women, and slept with a knife under her pillow for protection on the advice of her guest-house host.

 

These women didn't have much time for the Globe's suggestions that female war correspondents paint their toenails to hide the dirt. Or shave legs because "war zones have army men who are fit and will look at you like a goddess."

 

Alas, Gearey's article wasn't meant to be tongue-in-cheek. So here's some unsolicited advice for her: Stick to writing about tattoo removals, and know that serious women reporters leave the beauty tips at home so they can cover the front line in their uniquely professional fashion.

 

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