Abstract
Why is it, that when we think about or see terrorism, we do not see women? Women, like men, are capable of violence. Women, like men, commit violence for a variety of reasons, some rational some irrational. Still, when women commit acts of violence, they have been characterized as anything but regular criminals or soldier or terrorists. Rather, women who are violent are discussed in one of three ways - the wife, the mother or the whore – which deny her agency and reify gender stereotypes and subordination. With the rise in global terrorism and female participation within such organizations, the implications of the terms we use to describe away a woman’s legitimate use of violence, are far reaching.
Highlights
Why is it, that when we think about or see terrorism, we do not see women? Women, like men, are capable of violence
In order to understand this definition of agency it is useful to discuss the distinction between political subjectivity and subject positions
Laura Sjoberg argues that when women are discussed in relation to terrorism, it is in gendered terms
Summary
Laura Sjoberg argues that when women are discussed in relation to terrorism, it is in gendered terms. Bethke Elshtain draws attention to the issue that this dichotomy between Beautiful Souls and Just Warriors serves to make men’s violence ordinary or expected and women’s violence unthinkable In this understanding of women in relation to war, there is no room for women fighting in wars or perpetrating acts of violence. Violent women can either be seen as driven by “an intense and desperate link to motherhood”, which affects their personhood and ability to reason, as evil and deeply affected in their femininity, or as sexually depraved.[36] These three narratives the ‘mother’, ‘monster’ and the ‘whore’ highlight the ways in which women’s violence is represented and dealt with, which cannot be separated from the construction of women as violent subjects. This, in turn, often draws on myths and sexist prejudices that deny women’s humanity and agency
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