Author: Gregory Van Buskirk

The Confederate Flag: an Atomic Bomb for any Conversation by Greg Van Buskirk

 

The pivotal question surrounding the Confederate Flag

Since the fateful attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945, the atomic bomb has loomed in American culture as a highly disputed icon. Opinions of the atomic bomb and its use in World War II range from necessary evil for the war effort to a deplorable war crime and from a favor to the Japanese people to an important piece of American history to be studied thoroughly. The question of how the story of the atomic bomb should be told has brought into contention America’s role as liberator or villain, victor or war criminal. Some attempts to simply convey the historical facts of the situation have been dragged into the muddy debate. The divided public opinion over the atomic bomb and its story as part of American history brought to mind another American icon that is a hot topic, especially in recent years: the Confederate Flag. This flag and the atomic bomb may seem to have little in common at first. One is a catastrophic weapon used by the U.S. military in WWII and the other is a square or rectangle that became famous (or infamous) in the Civil War over half a century before. But they share a common thread in that their histories, modern interpretations, and justifications are feverishly argued about. 

A U.S. Marine with a confederate flag, Okinawa Japan, 1945.

 

The Confederate Flag that immediately comes to mind and that is the subject of debate most often is not the actual flag of Confederate States of America, but a battle flag used by specific armies in the confederacy. Since the Civil War and Reconstruction, the flag had been used in other capacities. Military units consisting of mostly Southerners used the flag in World War II. It has been used by state flags, political groups, popular culture, and countless other instances. Today it exists as a disputed symbol. Some argue that the flag embodies hate, racism, and the divisions of the American Civil War. Others assert that it is a matter of local pride for Southerners and their history. Arguments in local and national politics frequently flare up over whether the flag is inherently racist, should it be allowed in government or public spaces, and whether restrictions over the flag and its use are violations of the right to free speech.

General Lee, the car in “Dukes of Hazzard,” had the Confederate Flag on its roof.        

 

These debates are somewhat similar to the debates over the atomic bomb. Was it necessary? Do military needs justify the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians? Can we remember the bomb without celebrating it or villainizing America? All of these questions and many more are still being pursued, just as the debate over the Confederate Flag is no where near settled.

 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_display_of_the_Confederate_flag#Revival_and_controversy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon#/media/File:Nagasakibomb.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_display_of_the_Confederate_flag#/media/File:Battle_flag_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America.svg

http://www.carltonzone.com/blog/2015/6/23/the-confederate-flag-debate-a-balanced-view

http://www.ww2incolor.com/colorizations/WW2Confederateflag+-+Copy+-+Copy.html

https://countryrebel.com/blogs/videos/42648451-dukes-of-hazzard-car-general-lee-to-be-stripped-of-controversial-confederate-flag

Antithesis to Barbie: Toys for Little Homemakers

VS. 

 

Chloe Kim as a Barbie doll Barbie.com

Just last month, Chloe Kim became the youngest gold medal winner in Olympic women’s snowboarding history at 17 years old. She won first place in the women’s halfpipe event and brought the gold medal from PyeongChang home to the United States.  This achievement was apparently significant enough to raise her status to Barbie-worthy. Kim is now featured as part of the Role Models line of Barbie dolls, alongside other female professionals like conservationist Bindi Irwin, model and body activist Ashley Graham, and historic aviator Amelia Earhart.[1] In bold pink letters on the Role Models page at barbie.mattel.com, one can read the statement “Imagining she can be anything is just the beginning. Actually seeing that she can makes all the difference.” The idea that Barbie can show young girls all they can possibly become is nothing new. Barbie has always set out to teach girls “independence” and “all that [they] could be.”[2] It was a major point for Mattel that the Barbie doll did not “teach [girls] to nurture”[3] or do housework, but rather to pursue careers outside the home and become strong women. But why was there a need or want for a toy to teach children this lesson? Well, that’s because many other toys girls were playing with were painting a much different picture of women’s place in society.

Sears ad, 1965. theatlantic.com

Many a childhood, especially those of the female population, included toys like kitchenware, vacuums, baby dolls and the like. I, for one, played house many times in my day. For nearly a century, toys that simulate or depict domestic chores and housekeeping items, the “rough housework”[4] Barbie didn’t do, have been marketed to American girls. For example, an article by Elizabeth Sweet, a sociologist, wrote an article for The Atlantic that highlights Sears ads from 1925 and 1965 that market domestic tools like brooms and sewing machines and cookware, claiming, “Every little girl likes to play house, to sweep, and to do mother’s work for her.”[5] These types of toys worked to make a young girl into a “little homemaker”[6] rather than “to inspire the limitless potential in every girl” as Mattel claims to do with Barbie.[7]

Betsy Wetsy by Ideal, https://www.flickr.com/photos/wardomatic/2119683684/

Similar to the way toys that simulate housework convey the expectation that women are intended for taking care of the home, babydolls portray the expectation of a woman as also taking care of children. Take the Betsy Wetsy doll by Ideal that M. G. Lord refers to as “clinging, dependent.”[8] One television commercial for Betsy Wetsy opens with a little girl thinking to herself, “When I grow up, I want to be a mommy.” Luckily for her, she “can play mommy right now, with Ideal’s Betsy Wetsy.”[9] This advertisement clearly states that the ideal life a little girl should imagine for herself is that of a mother. With countless other babydolls filling toy store shelves, Betsy Wetsy was only a small piece of this expectation-setting. With the way domestic toys and babydolls portrayed the capabilities and goals of women, it is easy to see where Barbie could swoop in and be the more ambitious alternative.

I certainly fell into the idea of “girls’ toys” and “boys’ toys” growing up. But growing up with a little sister meant pulling my weight in the playhouse and leaving time for the Power Rangers and Polly Pocket to have a picnic after saving the world. It is only now at 21 years old that I have really tried to understand what some of our toys could represent or teach us. Looking at toy vacuums and babydolls as potentially at odds with Barbie dolls instead of all under the umbrella of “girls’ toys” is a new critical lens that I don’t think I could now ignore if I tried. For what it’s worth, my sister, who played with all of these types of toys, is now an aspiring artist that cooks and cleans for herself and does not dote on any freeloading men.

[1] https://barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/role-models.html (also follow this link for first Barbie Role Models image)

[2] M. G. Lord, Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll (Fredericton, N.B.: Goose Lane Editions, 2004), 9.

[3] Ibid., 9.

[4] Ibid., 10.

[5] Sweet, Elizabeth. “Toys Are More Divided by Gender Now Than They Were 50 Years Ago.” The Atlantic. December 09, 2014. Accessed March 29, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/toys-are-more-divided-by-gender-now-than-they-were-50-years-ago/383556/. (also see this source for first Sears ad, 1925)

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/about-barbie.html

[8] M. G. Lord, Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll (Fredericton, N.B.: Goose Lane Editions, 2004), 9.

[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R9iUdk3EYs