PinkerInk

To me, I see the "women only" food lines in Haiti as a reenforcement of the woman's role as the nurturer of the community. Towards the end of the piece, they mentioned "instilling calm and order" and by rationing food to women, they place the women in charge of taking care of the community and perhaps expect them to use their "mothering" skills. As the Haitian people face the task of rebuilding their community, they need some sort of guidance from a figure that will enforce some sort of structure and this begins with the women being in control of the food supply. Judging from the clips that the editors have chosen to include in this video, they make the men look unruly running around and fighting for food while the women appear to be more appreciative as they sing songs of praise. This imagery reenforces the men's role as the "hunter" Men won't stand by idly and wait for food to come to them in times of need. Instead, they aggressively go to where the resources are.

As far as CNN suggesting that women are more in order than men, I'm not sure that that's their agenda. I think they're simply trying to tell the story of the Haitian people from a different angle. PS: I'm interning for them this semester...

I feel that having the women only lines is a good idea. By nature men are more hot tempered than women because of testosterone. In a crisis situation the level of testone would be higher causing increased levels of agressing, as could be seen with the men hoping the fence and taking the food. The wo9men for the most part would be sharing the food with their families anyway. Therefor it seems as though a women only line is most efficient given the circumstances.

I feel that having the women make a line and giving them coupons for the food is a good idea because there is more order and calmness, compared to the men who are stronger physically and were taking all of the food. I also think that most women cook and feed their family so I think is only right that they receive the goods. Now it is unfair to those men that may not have a woman in their families because many people have died and are injured they may be alone at this time, which only makes the situation unfair to the men. I feel that the women were chosen because many men have the same perception of women which is that they are fragile and weak, so in that sense that made of played a role in the decision making of this process. However, any where around the world where there is an earthquake or any tragedy where many are starving (both genders) will react with force. I get annoyed at the media for showing the Haitians as if they are animals. They are people that are starving and they need food and medicine not for the media to show them in a negative light. I think that the problem here is there is no leader (or person in charge that we can identify) that is giving orders on how to distribute the food and the medicine equally.

Wow. Some interesting comments here. I would like to give my opinion on the clip, which agrees and disagrees with some of the statements I have read. I don't think women are more "in order" than men, most women "cook and feed their families", nor that women are less "hot tempered" than men. I think CNN is trying to pull different angles from this earthquake stories, and this is one of them – the fight for food and gender politics. It is interested to see the clip of people running to get food juxtaposed with the “Women Only” line. The voice over said the scene of people running to get food happened “just a few days ago…”, but my question asks if this is the first truck to arrive with food? How long had the people of Haiti gone without food prior to this? My point being that the people who ran to get the food were probably really hungry. Just hungry. And isn’t the phrase “The strongest survive”? Well…people were hungry and did what they had to do to get food and eat. Who is to say the men who did get the food first did not take it back for their families and friends? Who is to say they didn’t share with others? What if the women who did pick up the rice with their coupon didn’t bring it back to share? Maybe they took it to a corner and hid it, without any intention of sharing. The problem is that we are so prone to thinking that women are the caregivers and nurturers that our assumptions are therefore will go back and cook the rice. As a result, having a “Women Only” line is a logical idea. A lot of us fall prey to this stereotype, and others, which only perpetuates them more.

Also, I think we should look at the environments of the two food grabbings. In one, there was just a truck handing out food. No line, no coupon, just food and people. (Think about my “just hungry” idea.) People were hungry, and so they reacted to the food and once one person starts grabbing and shoving, the rest follow. A natural reaction. The other environment, there were coupons, guards, lines, rules, control. In a situation like this, everyone would follow suite and stand in line. It has nothing to do with one gender being more in order or calmer – at least not in my opinion.

This situation as a whole is drastic and it’s effects, devastating. There is no telling what I would do had I been in this kind situation but chances are, I too might have hidden my food, saving it for me…I get hungry just like the next person!

In my personal opinion, the women only line seems like a very good idea. This is not to say that women are calmer than men but they can get along in these times of situations better. Like a previous person said, men have testosterone and this causes them to be more prone to violent and aggressive behavior. In times like these, we cannot afford and more violence which is why we would prefer to use women. Of course women can get violent in their own right but the chances of that occurring in comparison to the males is not as high. Going by the facts and statistics of human behavior, this was the right decision to make and I feel like it was a very good one at that.

In many Latino/a and Carribean countries women are expected to fit a certain model. Usually housewives that are very caring, motherly creatures. This video is a perfect example of this culture. The message that CNN is sending is the same message that American society has of people of color. In the video a guy says that he doesn't think it's right woman are getting the food. This is a perfect example of machismo. I strongly believe that this is a struggle that many women of color have to face. They have to live up to this idea that women cannot be loud, or aggressive inorder to be accepted in their communities.

I have browse through a few of your blogs but I believe there is a greater purpose to the women line only. However this clip can be interpret in a variety of ways but, the reality of the Haitian ‘women only’ food line is the separation of the sexes, to control the mass in which the majorities are men; to do that the United Nation World Food Program (eight aid agencies) use the food line as a means to oppressed the male population of Haiti. The clip portrayed the Haitian males as aggressive and hostile and the female as caring, good-natured; the video clip also shows that there was a comparison of the food distribution between the men and women. The CNN news correspondent showed and also stated “young men overpowering everyone else” while the women are shown lining up gently and calmly for food.