Last week, Heather Streets-Salter’s talk about the Noulens Affair and the associated events in the 1930’s very much opened my eyes to the happenings during the Cold War and implications of communism throughout the world. At the beginning of her talk, I struggled to understand the associations between ethnic background and experience of communist fear, but she made it easier to conceptualize how country association was impactful in regards to treatment and consequences when convicted. In reflection, two points that Dr. Streets-Salter made proved particularly interesting to me were the gendered division of convict behavior during the Cold War and the collectivist mentality that is highlighted between nations in time of international conflict.
Dr. Streets-Salter discussed how women played a very large role in the transfer of communist information across countries in the 1930’s that very much flew under the radar of law enforcement in many countries. Women worked as spies in this period due to the low expectation from an external view to be involved in communist behavior. Dr. Streets-Salter also discussed how when women were talked about in the newspapers or public news, they were only referred to by last name and never by their first name. Thus, women were ultimately protected by the public eye when it came to their conviction and the anonymous nature allowed them to remain out of the public scrutiny in a way that men were unable to do. I consider that women still today fly under the radar when it comes to convicted behavior because they tend to be far more trusted than men. Women are less expected to act violently in public settings and therefore it is more surprising to people when women are involved in heinous and illegal behavior. Women’s were less predictable as spies during the time of communist fear, which represents the over-trusting nature people feel towards women on a general scale.
Dr. Streets-Salter also discussed how other nations during the Cold War were brought together out of fear towards communism. She talked about the unity that existed between Britain, France, and China for example. These nations normally did not get along well and often experienced conflict, but in the time of personal questioning towards ideals and foundation, they came together in order to fight the common enemy. I understood this in terms of conformity against a greater evil. When it comes to social issues, it often becomes easier to find a common ground with another person when you share the hate for another. This was exemplified by these conflicts and the unity that was created in response. I have started to wonder the implications of these relationships and whether unity in the eye of fear is truly trusted when it comes to war. How is one to weigh the expectations of personal beliefs in contrast with thoughts or ideals that go against those beliefs? How does trust play-into those relationships? In the instance of war, fear clouds judgments to bring countries together because unity is strength.