Women on the walls: Representations of women in political murals in Northern Ireland

Abstract

The article documents the under-representation of women in political wall murals in Northern Ireland. There are significantly fewer representations of women than of men in these murals. Where women do appear, it is within a number of specific themes: as political activists, prisoners, victims or historical or mythological characters. The findings will be located within an analysis which sees the murals as a specific articulation of gender as a dimension of political mobilisation during conflict and in the period of transition from conflict. In short, the images sometimes reinforce and at other times challenge gender role expectations and norms. The extent of that reinforcement and challenge differs significantly between republican and loyalist murals. Nowhere do women receive representational equality with men, but in relation to loyalist murals, that absence comes close to being tantamount to silence.