Then the upright standing towers fell down after penetration, just as a woman who is assaulted and raped would do when attacked. She would also 'fall to pieces' after such an encounter.

Also ironic is the fact that the date 9/11 is the number a rape victim would call for help. 911, it would forever be imprinted in her psyche afterwards. All things associated with that number would dredge up memories. And isn't that what we as a nation are doing now? It has become a sacrosanct collection of digits because on that day, thousands of victims cried for help.

But that is just only the visible signs. Once a woman has been raped, the inner scars remain for years. She never feels safe. Every event that comes anywhere close to the rape situation creates terror in her. A sound or a smell, the lighting, the texture of the environment, an image in the shadows all these things trigger her memory. We, as a nation, have collectively responded in the same manner over the last 2 months: the sound of sirens, smell of a burning building, a plane flying too low overhead, walking underneath a skyscraper.....

And so we are on 'heightened alert'. We batten down the hatches, seal of the area, shut the doors. Like the female rape victim, we've even taken to 'learning how to protect ourselves'. She will learn judo or buy a gun, we've deployed the Coast Guard, taught our air force how to shoot down an errant civilian jet, and close off airspaces and entries to cities in order to avert a  threat.

All of this is what has made the attack on the WTC so much more dark in the psyche of our nation. This overt yet not explored symbolism contaminates us. It will be our leitmotif for years to come. The terrorists couldn't have planned it better if they tried. They just did things the way any arrogant, dominating, alpha male on this planet would do it. They came and raped America.

 

c 2001 Leona Seufert