Abstract
In general, the legal rights of women in Asia are ignored. The paper provides anecdotal evidence of “young, beautiful” women in several Asian countries who have been the targets of acid attacks by angry men and women over personal issues. Battery acid is the weapon of choice. The acid attacks intentionally transform these women from “beautiful” to “ugly.” Most of the victims are alone and poor, and youth and beauty may be their only assets. The courts of law, however, blame the victims’ beauty and wile for initiating the circumstances that result in their suffering. The attackers generally go free. The story of Miss Som Rasmey of Cambodia is introduced as one example. The discussion digresses from the brutal particulars of the acid attacks to a naive question: “Why is there so much battery acid around, anyway?” This question leads to the conclusion that the attack on Miss Som Rasmey is collateral damage linked to the global conspiracy of economic growth (globalization). Economic growth ideology continues to spread the insidious mantra that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” This is an article of faith in market fundamentalism that promotes the spread of Walt Rostow’s capitalist manifesto (Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto, 1960) around the world. In spite of massive anecdotal evidence of the negative impact of Rostow’s “stages of economic growth” at the local level in so-called “developing countries,” it is an economic planning model that growth ideologues continue to embrace as its influence expands.
Recommended Citation
Nemeth, David J.
(2003)
"Blame Walt Rostow for Miss Som Rasmey’s Acid Bath,"
The Geographical Bulletin: Vol. 45:
Iss.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/thegeographicalbulletin/vol45/iss2/5