The_Good_and_the_Brave

Throughout history, women have generally been given fewer rights and employment opportunities than have their male counterparts. Domestic responsibilities and child-bearing were regarded as the primary role of women. During the 20th century, women in many countries earned the right to vote and had improved academic and career opportunities. Increasingly women have established themselves as contenders for political arena during the 20th century and beyond. Women have always been considered “weaker” than men. Their job has been to serve their spouses and take care of the children. Historically, females have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men, but also a major source of temptation and evil (Women’s History in America, 1995). The status quo has disallowed women to be equal to men so it has been accepted that a woman’s place is in the home. During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. For example, if a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object (Women History in America, 1995). Not only did women have no rights to make decisions, they were considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform tasks requiring muscular or intellectual development (Women’s History in America, 1995). Although it was hard for women, they began to see a change during the 19th and 20th century. Women have become successful in many ways. They have gained the right to vote, freedom of speech, and slowly meandered their way into politics. In the 20th century, educated women arrived on the political scene. Among them, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman on the Supreme Court, Barbara Jordan, not only became a keynote speaker at he Democratic National Convention, but she was the first African- American keynote speaker, Shirley Chisholm. In this paper, I will be deconstructing a political cartoon, And Bush Created Democracy (2005), drawn by renowned English satirist Steve Bell, and elucidate on its contents and its relevance to international relations. Through a critical analysis (considering the context, method, choice, intended effect, impact on the audience) of the cartoon, this paper shows how this text reflects and shapes our understanding of the realities of American foreign policy-making. More importantly, I argue that a successful political cartoon is largely effective as a tool to attack ideas or personalities and thereby shape public opinion, because of its visual and accessible form. The use of cartoon as a medium to perpetuate the cartoonist’s political view is extremely common in recent times, especially in the post-printing era of modern technology. In this visually driven society that we live in, it is thus not surprising that political cartoons today are found in many major newspapers or editorials, reinforcing their popularity and ability to communicate to the masses. In this respect, the relationship between visual art and popular culture vis-à-vis politics is symbiotic and will be examined in this paper.