Gender and International Conflict

Mon Sept 25, 2006

Hamideh Sedghi writes about third world women caught in conflict: " Third World women captured world attention as 'victims', but Western reporters saw them subjagted only by their own cultures and not by international conflict" [90, "Third World Feminist Perspectives on World Politics", Women, Gender, and World Politics. Ed Pter R. Beckman and Francine D'amico 1994: Westport, pp 89-105]

When Sedghi writes about the 'West' she mostly cites the US media as examples however as her Third World example that she begins the chapter with she talks about Saudi Arabian womens' protests against a patriarchal culture and the first Gulf war. Although her assertion confirms my initial observation about the portrayal of women in conflict zones when speaking about Saudi women she is incorrect as citing them as Third World because Saudi Arabia is a high income country, but perhaps she was referring to their protest against the war being waged in Iraq. Sedghi also doesn't make it entirely clear where exactly the 'third world' is, only stating that she is not using the term in an ethnocentric or orientalist manner.

An interesting oberservation Sedghi makes is that women are under two patriarchal systems: the national and international so when conflict arises women either accept the patriarchy they are under nationally to help in an international conflict or decide to stand up for their gender-specific concerns [103]. In the Chechen and Sri Lankan case, both conflicts are intra-state rather than inter-state. Sedghi's assertion can still be applied I think; for example that Tamil women may assist their own against the Sinhalese government even though they are under restraints based on gender by the Tamil culture. For example, differences in gender roles between Sinhalese Sri Lankans and Tamil Sri Lankans could stem from the dominant religions in each group, in this case Buddhism and Hinduism.