Militarism And Sexism Essay

The United States’ flag; once a symbol of sacred patriotism has morphed into vacuous militarism. Today, in the United States the words patriotism and militarism seem interchangeable. Similarly, as women gain more freedom to express themselves, media sources and everyday interaction take advantage of these freedoms in a militaristic way, as a means to control. In this paper, first, the exposure and over usage of the flag is discussed, then a connection is made between the flag and the bodies of women, using the example of women wearing the American flag as a bathing suit.
In 2011, Ivan Eland wrote an article deploring Americans to pay more attention to the use of the words patriotism and militarism. Eland states, “ The United States was founded on principles of anti-militarism, permanent U.S. military meddling abroad was avoided until after World War II.”

What is clear is the connection between militarism and sexism. For some extreme nationalists the U.S. Flag Code is above the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The articles written attacking women for devaluing the flag by covering their breasts and butts, and not equally demanding respect of the flag to men who adorn it on their pants or t-shirts. A women’s right to express herself freely is not taken as serious as men’s right of expression. Her freedom has come with a price, not acknowledging how freedom of expression is surface level, she does not have true freedom. To the authors of these mainstream articles think she should submit to the Flag Code over the U.S. Constitution. This is an outrageous claim, one that demands control over women, keeping her in her place. Johnson brilliantly claims that, “privilege is always at someone else’s expense and it always exacts a cost. Everything that’s done to receive to maintain it, however passive and unconscious, results in suffering and deprivation for someone.”