Twisted Maternalism

Abstract

Much of the recent work on Palestinian female suicide bombers (shahidas) explains their violence in domestic and maternal language. These descriptions read shockingly similar to the maternalist position. Maternalism typically equates women's participation in the political arena with peace and non-violence, and is criticized for essentializing women's role. The application of a ‘twisted’ maternalism to women's political violence also appears to be essentializing and objectifying. This body of work, then, analyzes the application of maternalism to the Palestinian shahidas. This characterization arguably subordinates women's choices to engage in political violence in a way that relies upon gendered assumptions about what it means to be a woman.

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