FIFA SERIES: THE SITUATION IN BRAZIL

With the much awaited FIFA World Cup in full swing, most international viewers are absorbed in the on-field action- completely oblivious to the big picture. The World Cup has adversely affected both the Brazilian citizens and the government. The investments poured in by the government to orchestrate this year’s “much-awaited event” have caused mass protests in Brazil, that have not only resulted in  the loss of lives, but forced the government into highly expensive peace-keeping measures, further endangering the economy. 

The World Cup is expected to generate a profit of above $3 billion that was considered to be able to greatly stabilize the Brazilian economy and maybe even give it a large boost; however, what escapes this optimistic assessment is that the Brazilian government has already spent over US$11.5 billion into the tournament.  The protests are not entirely a surprising affair- the general discontent had sprouted in another tournament last summer, when people rioted and protested against problems ranging from the over-expenditure of the government, corruption, tax breaks given to FIFA, to increased bus fares. It is important at this moment, to consider that there have been serious social indirect costs of the World Cup as well-  an average of one construction worker a month has died while working on the various construction related projects of the tournament,  much like the issues that have arisen in Qatar.

Due to increased criminal activity in the hosting country, Brazilian authorities had launched “Operation Pacification”. With both criminal activity and civil disobedience at rise, the government is currently spending $855 million on strengthening national security. This coupled with the lavish expenditure on FIFA World Cup has crippled the Brazilian financial system. Implications are explicit while the Brazilian economy continues to plunge, and the average Brazilian is left with more than a bitter taste of the world’s football celebrations.  The protests have sadly culminated into many violent clashes between the authorities and the protesters, costing more than 10 deaths and over 200 serious injuries with more than 400 arrests.

While the origins of these riots are certainly pre-World Cup, the effects are certainly far-reaching and damaging.  The celebration of one of the most celebrated sport and its biggest event, are marred by bloodshed, discontent and an air of mass disobedience. Within our modern society and its extensive, comprehensive social charters, we should certainly realize that no medium of entertainment, however celebrated, should impact the general populace so adversely. It is not unknown for hosting countries to encounter financial issues while hosting tournaments as large as the FIFA World Cup, but for such events to cause such mercurial change in the general atmosphere and impair peace is certainly too great a cost for a tournament which could just as easily be held in a more stable country.  One can only hope that football fans and organizers alike would rally against such arrangements in the future, and a more humanitarian vision will be adopted in organizing such mega events for football or otherwise. 

                                        

By: Rabab Ahsan

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Of Exceptional Females, and Harry Potter Characters

The only thing that makes me angrier than a female protagonist that is helpless, defenseless and a waste of paper is a female protagonist that is portrayed as the strongest, smartest, and most desirable woman in the entire book.

Hello, I like contradictions. But I don’t like Ginny Weasley.

Ginny Weasley is what we would refer to as the ‘exceptional women’. “Exceptional Woman” refers to a woman, who is the best and awesome-est at what she does, but she’s still only playing the game that is reserved for boys, an example, Princess Lea, who is also the only female character in the entire trilogy. Women get to be either the best, or non-existent, because apparently only men get to be average.

Let’s be serious- great female protagonists, even good ones, are hard to find in novels. Authors really don’t seem to know how to play it; to write a character that can’t seem to do anything herself, or a woman who is so independent, she can’t even stand the thought of two boys being in love with her throughout the entire series? It’s been seen throughout the history of young adult fiction.

Ginny Weasley really did show up out of the blue- we did, of course, see her in the first four books, where she was shy, quiet, undeniably infatuated with Harry Potter…and possessed by a diary in the girls’ bathroom. But suddenly when the rest of the books came out, Ginny Weasley became super woman 2.0. The best at hexes, the snarkiest when it came to insults, and obviously much prettier than all the other girls, not even the Boy Who Lived could stay away from her. She was never ashamed of her countless boyfriends, or her poverty, or any clichés that should be worried about when it comes to being a teenage girl. All in all, J.K Rowling took every possible quality a human could want, and bestowed it on Ron Weasley’s little sister.  

I really tried to like Ginny the way I liked every other character in the book- she had qualities that made people like her, I’m sure of it, but she just seemed a little too great for my taste. Out of the hundreds of students that attended Hogwarts, she was the only person who stuck up for Luna? The only person who made it into the Slug Club without connections? She alone won the award of BEST chaser, even after Katie Bell had been on the team for six long years?

What bothered me the most was that all of these qualities that were bestowed upon her were not an attempt to make a funny, strong female lead- they were given to her so that she would be good enough for Harry. Harry only seems to like her after she’s wooed plenty of men with her feminine wiles; only after she makes sure not to cry like all the other girls, or when she’s treated like a special snowflake for being oh so strong, and oh so witty. Ginny Weasley, it seems, was planned out from the beginning to date Harry as a reward, as if he needed something to make up for the horrible years spent in battling Voldemort and wizarding angst.

Ginny Weasley has had her moments, every character in the series has, but after the books are finished, and the story has been closed, I’ll always remember Ginny as the girl who reminded me of the one person in your class that is the best at everything, and you alone can see all of their flaws.

By: Sarah Quraishi

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