Airport security
Following my post the other day on the Department of Homeland Security’s airport screening programme, here’s what it’s come to - an elderly Catholic nun being frisked by airport security in the US.
Dean Shaddock, who snapped the shot and plonked it on Flickr says:
“This was captured as I collected my things from airport security (Detroit Metro Concourse A). I think of it as something like a Rorschach test. Is an elderly Catholic nun being frisked by a Muslim security agent the celebration of blind justice? Or is it simply an admission of absurdity?“
There’s a lot going on in this image if you look closely - a Muslim woman frisking a Catholic nun against the backdrop of the American flag. A bored onlooker - reminds me of how complacent we’ve become in a society that is increasingly controlled, monitored and suspicious. I presume the photo was snapped on a camera phone - an example of sousveillance.
I guess you can react to this image in many ways. For example, why shouldn’t a nun be frisked? You can conceal a lot under the religious garb. And cunning terrorists might just adopt a religious habit to get through security. Then again, you might be offended that someone from a religious order, and an older person, is being frisked.
You might also ask why a Muslim woman (she is wearing a hijab) is a US security official, but then again why on earth not? Not all Muslims are terrorists of course. Anyone has a right to a job. So maybe this image is entirely normal and reflects the reality of the age we live in.
I guess the power of the image and its story lies within the reaction it stirs in different people. What’s your reaction?
Made in Australia
Dennis O'Connor said,
September 28, 2007 @ 12:31 am
This is a powerful image. I think we’re shocked because ’security’ like this is relatively new in the US.
Overseas shows of force and security have been common all along. i vividly remember seeing rosy cheeked 18 year old Yugoslavian border police casually walking toward me with scowls on their immature faces and loaded machine guns in their hands. Even the b movie chant of “Papers! Paper!” didn’t raise a grin in me that day.
My 80 year old grandmother was strip searched several times while on a pilgrimage to the Holy land… over 20 years a go.
The outside world has been grim as hell for a long time… now that we have this stuff here at home do you think it will ever go away?
Dennis In San Diego
thinkingshift said,
September 28, 2007 @ 2:49 am
Hi Dennis
Thx for visiting. We’re also getting security like this in Australia..haven’t seen a nun frisked yet, but it’s getting pretty frustrating getting through the airport these days what with x-ray machines, hauling out your laptop, putting liquids in 100ml bottles etc. But that’s our world now, like it or not.
See you on Teacher Librarian Ning :)-
Kim
MESSIAH said,
October 2, 2007 @ 6:52 am
what if the pic showed an IMAM(islam priest) being inspected by a jew security guard complete with the little hat….
HOW WOULD BE THE PIC BE VIEWED AS….???