Bias and The Vietnam War: Then and Now Bias is one of life’s many inescapable factors. Every piece of information is influenced by the biases of the person that provided the information as well as the biases of the person that is receiving it. During the Vietnam War military and political decisions were influenced by the biases of those in command. In addition, the actions of the general population were influenced by the biases of both individual people and entire groups. Even to this day bias affects the way that the events that took place during the Vietnam War are studies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that biases played during the war, as well as the role that they continue to play in the study of the Vietnam War.
Then:
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In the introduction of the book McNamara freely admits that the book “represents the truth as I [McNamara] perceive it based on information available to me today”. McNamara is using his current knowledge to analyze the events of the past, rather than attempting to show the events through the lenses of the time period that they happened in. By stating this, McNamara is acknowledging that the information he is presenting is influenced by is current biases. He is also acknowledging that what he is presenting as “truth” is biased due to personal memory and option – it is how he remembers events now, rather than hard …show more content…
These biases can be obvious, subtle, known, unknown, or merely implied. For instance, of the many works used throughout the course only one was written by a woman – Beyond Combat. In Beyond Combat Stur explains that due to the positive bias of American soldiers towards American women, American women were allowed to be nurses and hold positions in recreational services so as remind the soldiers what they were fighting for. She also examines the mixed perceptions of Vietnamese women: some saw Vietnamese women as seductresses out to lure American soldiers into enemy hands versus, others attempted to create a positive perception that would place Vietnamese Women into a similar role to that of American women – a precious thing to be protected. Stur also examined the perceptions of American soldiers as violent fighters, savage rapists, and protectors and how these perceptions affected how others interacted with the
Another strength of this book is Prochnau's treatment of the central characters. These journalists were often reviled and criticized for their caustic and searing articles about the Vietnamese situation. These popular opinions undermined the legitimacy of their work and the truthfulness of their reportage of the deterioration of South Vietnam. Prochnau's accounting of these individuals runs contrary to these opinions, and in effect, reaffirms the validity of these journalists' work. For example, the David Halberstram has often been portrayed as an antiwar hero, yet the author stated that Halberstram was quite the opposite. "But not once during his Vietnam years or well afterward, did he (Halberstram) question America's right, even her need to be there (Vietnam). His criticisms were of methods and foolishness, lying and self-delusion, of a failure to set a policy that could win."(pg 141) These depictions exonerate the image of this hardy "band of brothers."
Within Megan H. Mackenzie’s essay, “Let Women Fight” she points out many facts about women serving in the U.S. military. She emphasizes the three central arguments that people have brought up about women fighting in the military. The arguments she states are that women cannot meet the physical requirements necessary to fight, they simply don’t belong in combat, and that their inclusion in fighting units would disrupt those units’ cohesion and battle readiness. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act built a permanent corps of women in all the military departments, which was a big step forward at that time. Although there were many restrictions that were put on women, an increase of women in the U.S. armed forces happened during
Do you believe all women are smart enough to get an education or strong enough to go to war? In countries like Afghanistan and even America, there is a preconceived notion that women are simply best for bearing children, raising them, cleaning, and cooking for their husbands. From a young age, many women are given gendered roles, such as being taught by society to find husbands and care for children. For instance, girls are given baby dolls and kitchen sets for their birthdays instead of books. In Flashes of War, by Katey Schultz, the two stories “Deuce Out” and “Aaseya and Rahim” the protagonists Stephanie and Aaseya may live in different worlds, but they share much more than we think. Because of predetermined expectations that society has imposed upon women, Schultz’s book comes to a surprise since it defies pre-conceived notions of women.
American women in World War II brought significant changes which although people expectation that life would go back to normal they modify their lifestyle making women free of society pressure and norms, because the war changed the traditional way to see a woman and their roles leading to a new society where women were allowed to study and work in the same way than men. Creating a legacy with the principles of today’s society.
When first examining the documentation it is difficult to comprehend whether women were being patronized or treated too delicately; the fact of the matter is the average treatment of women during this era was radically different from society’s attitude toward men. It is also evident women exploited stereotypes to their advantage. Larry G. Eggleston explains the particular viewpoint of American society in Women of the Civil War as “Women were held with respect even though they were considered to be the weaker sex. Many women broke away from society’s traditional view of women when the Civil War began” (1). To avoid detection agents often manipulated social stigmas. Traditionally, Men were expected to join their countrymen upon the battlefield and women were to remain at home attempting to keep order. Some women were equally effective from their posts at home, while acting as scouts for their respected causes.
Only in the Vietnam War was the United States’ participation criticized. This is such a gigantic change from prior wars that it bears study as to why it happened, and better yet, should have it happened. This paper will discuss the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War, by asking the simple question, Should have the United States’ gotten involved in the first place? This paper will prove that, in fact, America should not have gotten involved in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place between 1947- 1975.
The Vietnam War certainly left a distaste in the lives of many who have been affected by the war; scholars have become increasingly interested in the interaction between war and public opinion. There have been many scholarly works published on the Vietnam War, but the issue that will be analyzed here is how public opinion changed the course of the war. The first article by Scott Gartner and Gary Segura is titled, “Race, Casualties, and Opinion in the Vietnam War,” it examined how the diverse races within America in combination with the atrocities in the war led to the formation of opinions that were similar in one race but were different in another race. The second article by Paul Burstein and William Freudenburg titled, “The Impact of Public Opinion, Antiwar Demonstrations, and War Costs on Senate Voting on Vietnam War Motions” takes a closer look on how as the war became a prolonged affair, representatives from both the Senate and the House became more influenced about the angst from their constituents regarding the war. The third article by Sidney Verba and Richard Brody is titled, “Public Opinion and the War in Vietnam,” which takes a similar approach to the first article but asks, how do the informed differ from the less-well-informed on their attitudes toward the Vietnam War? If demonstrations were credited with bringing about these changes, presumably an argument could be made that demonstrations had converted public opinion which in turn encouraged the administration to change its Vietnam policies. That is the focus of fourth and final article by E. M. Schreiber titled, “Anti-War Demonstrations and American Public Opinion on the War in Vietnam.” Central to all of these articles is how individuals consider casualties when d...
In the mid 1960’s the United States involvement in Vietnam stirred controversy amongst the Americans and politicians. Across the U.S., the american public became increasingly more opposed to the war. Throughout the
McNamara recalls one of the actions of President Johnson made, “Johnson initiated bombing of North Vietnam and committed U.S. ground forces…All of this occurred without adequate public disclosure or debate” (Hollitz, 291). From Johnson’s actions, no one really knew what was happening in Vietnam thus creating mass confusion. By comparing O’Brien and McNamara words, O’Brien seems too poetic and McNamara is cold and harsh but factual. However, by combining the two as one, a clear image of confusion became present; O’Brien sets the scene of emotion with confusion followed by McNamara shining a spot light on the truth. Confusion is not the only reason O’Brien, courage plays an important role in the fight for life or
Nowadays, women are not just seen as nurses or lovers in war stories. They are soldiers, captains, and lieutenants. Women do not have it anymore easier in war than men do. They are not handed medals or become heroes painlessly. Although O’Brien respects women having stronger souls than credited, he still believes they must earn the characteristic of being a hero
...as Mary Ann in the novel show that women can do so much more than sew and cook. Without women, all wars would have been a lot harder. Although men tend to keep a macho facade in order to calm others (such as the women in their lives), inside they may be like glass, easy to break. A society set on the ideal stoic, fearless warrior who acts ruthlessly and saves the damsel in distress (also showing that women are weak) obviously is one where doomed to sexism. Without the comfort and inspiration, men would have deteriorated in the face of death. All and all, women provided the needed comfort, nursing, “manpower”, and love that the soldiers of Vietnam need, something that helped them endure the havoc of war. O’Brien’s expert use of the feminist lens allows the reader to know that women indeed were a powerhouse in the Vietnam war, without whom, men would have perished.
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
Self-Interest and Civilians' Attitudes Toward the Vietnam WarRichard R. Lau, Thad A. Brown and David O. SearsThe Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Winter, 1978), pp. 464-483
Management of modern war is a hard duty. It can also be derived from the movie that how Americans deal with the era of Vietnam War and what kind of approach does America has about the conflicts concerning the area of Middle-East. Robert McNamara had crucial role in the Vietnam War with other significant actors like J. F. Kennedy. Concerning the military strategy and the campaign about bombing were the subjects that McNamara took a role in. In the movie there are important observations of McNamara about humanity. For instance he mentions that people are the creatures that hardly learn from their past and this situation make them repeat their mistakes. He has a bit negative approach to this situation. However he is not entirely desperate about people. Some may learn from the past, he thinks. In the movie, there are great moments that one may not think about. Meeting of McNamara and his one of the enemies from Vietnamese army was the unique and interesting
Skaine, Rosemarie. “Properly Trained Servicewomen Can Overcome Physical Shortcomings.” Women at War: Gender Issues of Americans in Combat (1999). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomson Gale. University of South Alabama Library. 15 July 2006 .