Maureen Nole
In the last twenty years there has been a marked rise in the number of female suicide bombers in the Middle East and North Africa. This is demonstrative not of a feminization of martyrdom, but rather of a further exploitation of women in the region. The increasing prevalence of women embarking on suicide bombing missions upon first glance appears to be an impressive move toward gender equality just by the sheer nature of the ratio of male to female suicide bombers becoming more balanced. This leveling ratio, however, is misleading. Men and women in the Middle East are not faced with the same experiences and expectations in their everyday lives, and so they do not have the same motivations for volunteering to become martyrs. Women in the Middle East have far less access to symbolic realms of power than men do, and martyrdom is one of those precious few realms in which women can take agency over their own bodies. As suicide bombers, however, their agency is finite. They are disposable objects, a means to an end in a context dictated and controlled by men.
While increased female presence in the arena of political violence violates conventional gender norms, it does not necessarily indicate a greater trend of feminization. Before addressing the feminism or lack thereof in the rising incidence of female suicide bombers, it is necessary to elaborate the traditional role of women in Islam and the contradictions this presents to the idea of the female martyr. Martyrdom in Islam is a most holy act, as it is the decision to die in the name of God, and those who choose to make this sacrifice are venerated for their bravery and devotion.
Martyrdom, however, is a realm traditionally dominated by men, so much so that the first recorded instance of a female suicide bomber in the Middle East was in 1985, while the male- executed suicide attacks in the region date back hundreds of years. For a woman to sacrifice herself in an act of martyrdom, she must forgo the traditional roles of mother and wife in service of God and her community, and thus she challenges societal gender norms while engaging in an act that is not only sanctioned, but encouraged by the very society that imposes the roles of mother and wife in the first place. Women who seek martyrdom actively challenge societal gender norms by engaging in an act that prevents them from
from fulfilling the expectations placed on them in a traditional Islamic society, but in a manner that same society is forced to condone.
Female martyrdom, though it challenges the traditional conception of the role of women in Islam, does not necessarily indicate a feminization of the spheres of martyrdom and political violence. The argument that a rise in the number of female suicide bombers points to a feminization of martyrdom in general, relies on the understanding that women who choose to sacrifice themselves in acts of political violence are taking agency over their own bodies to do so. Taking this agency, however, is merely replacing one manner of oppression with another. The agency of female suicide bombers, even if taken in an attempt at active subversion of patriarchal gender norms, is co-opted by that same patriarchal structure.
Women taking the agency to become martyrs is so significant because they have notably few other opportunities to take agency over their own bodies, but the agency they take is the agency to be dispensable. Female martyrdom seekers use martyrdom to escape from the circumstances in which they are trapped, but these unfavourable circumstances are fostered by patriarchal gender norms, and those gender norms then also prevent the feminization of the wider sphere of political violence.
There is a growing trend of women being used by terrorist organizations as agents of war, with women making up fifteen percent of all suicide bombers from 1985 to 2006. This increase, however, is not reflected in other realms of political violence. Very few women are admitted into fighting forces, but many are accepted to become suicide bombers. This is indicative not of an evolving conceptualization of gender and the role of women in Islamic society, but of an understanding of women and their bodies as expendable. The incidence of female suicide bombers is rising because the demand for them is rising, and the demand is rising with the realization that women make for highly effective suicide bombers.
There is a cyclical nature to the process of women becoming martyrs; in that female suicide bombers both seek martyrdom to escape the circumstances imposed upon them by traditional gender norms, and are recruited for martyrdom because gender norms allow them to carry out suicide missions more effectively. The use of women as suicide bombers presents both tactical and strategic advantages, many of which are born of traditional notions surrounding the nature of women and their bodies. One tactical advantage is that women make stealthier bombers. They have the element of surprise. Women are frequently profiled as nonviolent and are therefore far less likely to arouse suspicion. Women can also conceal explosives in loose clothing or by faking pregnancy, and male security forces are frequently hesitant to search women thoroughly for fear of impropriety. Female martyrdom seekers also present the tactical advantage of their ability to shame their male counterparts into participation in political violence. Due to the traditional understanding of the role of women as being protected and of men being protectors, the image of a woman sacrificing herself to protect her faith or community serves as an effective motivator for men not fulfilling their perceived duties. The sacrifices of women are capitalized on by patriarchal structures that then disgrace men for allowing women to do their jobs for them. Female suicide bombers, despite defying gender norms with their acts of self-sacrifice, have their stories co-opted to propagate the sexist ideals that influenced and inspired their suicide missions.
The utilization of women as suicide bombers also presents certain strategic advantages that stem from the gendered expectations of women and their behavior. The primary aim of suicide missions is garnering attention, and female suicide bombers, because of the perception of them being intrinsically gentle and passive, can garner considerable media coverage. Female suicide bombers break the conventional understanding of women as averse to violence, and their performances of violence and political agency are deviant from traditional ideals, all of which serves to conjure the feelings of shock, fear, and aversion in outside observers. Using women as instruments of political violence bears the strategic advantages of drawing increased media attention and of carrying intense psychological weight. In these cases, the use of women as suicide bombers is merely an adaptation of terrorist organizations to utilize the least likely suspects and the most efficient subjects to achieve a desired outcome.
The role of women in suicide missions is determined solely by their political necessity. Women are exclusively allowed into the sphere of political violence and the realm of martyrdom when their presence and action poses definitive advantages for the missions for which they are recruited, and the rhetoric that surrounds them in their participation leaves traditional gender roles intact. Traditional gender dynamics are only disrupted when this disruption can bring specific ends in dire circumstances. The role of women is advanced in the realm of martyrdom when it is necessary and beneficial. But this change is neither significant nor lasting, it is insulated from all other realms of political agency and expression, and it only occurs within the parameters established by a patriarchal society. There is no advancement of gender equality here, only coercion and pragmatic instrumentalisation of women and gender roles.
As previously explained, women who seek martyrdom in the Middle East can only do so in a context that strips them of their agency and control, so martyrdom does not result in any advancement of gender equality. The most common motivations that drive women to become martyrs also take origin in the patriarchal societal structures that deprive women of their agency, which means that women victimized by a patriarchal society are the easiest targets for further coercion. The historic reverence that surrounds martyrs in Islam is significant here, because in traditional societies that vilify and ostracize women for actions and characteristics that make them incompatible with gender expectations, women who have already dishonored themselves or their families are drawn in by the promise of honor that accompanies martyrdom.
Many of the most prominent female suicide bombers in the Middle East and North Africa either were infertile, divorced, or falsely accused of adultery, all of which can lead Muslim women to be deemed as deviant in traditional Islamic societies, or they were trapped in circumstances outside their control and felt powerless to enact change without sacrificing themselves. These women were ostracized by their communities or repressed by their circumstances and were therefore far easier to coerce into sacrificing their lives.
On 27 January 2002, Wafa Idris became the first Palestinian women to instigate an act of suicide terror when she detonated a bomb that killed eleven people and wounded one hundred and forty. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade took responsibility for the attack, and Idris’ death transformed her into a cult heroine. Prior to her death, Idris had been shamed within her community because she was infertile, and her husband divorced her and took another wife who could have children. After her death, however, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade established a special unit to train female suicide bombers and named it after Wafa Idris. Wafa Idris in life was shunned for not adhering to the expectations of traditional Islamic society. In death, however, specifically in a death that directly benefited the society that had shunned her, she was celebrated. Her value as a person was recognized only when she could make a societal contribution that did not bend the rules or shake the status quo.
On 29 March 2002 Ayat al-Akhras set off set off a bomb in the Supersol supermarket in Jerusalem killing two and injuring twenty-eight. Al- Akhras had dreamt of being a journalist but had failed many times to do so, and before her suicide mission she taped herself saying “I am going to fight instead of the sleeping Arab armies who are watching Palestinian girls fighting alone.” Al-Akhras was frustrated both with the trajectory of her life and with what she perceived as inaction on behalf of Arab leaders on behalf of Palestine. She shamed them for their inaction through her words and actions, through taking agency over the one and only thing she could control, her own body. Al- Akhras’ story, however, like those of the many other Muslim women who sought martyrdom through suicide violence, was co-opted by the same patriarchal structure that forced her action. Her sacrifice was glorified, but not her message. Arab leaders were not shamed into action on behalf of Palestine, and instead Al-Akhras’ suicide attack was broadcasted to encourage other women to do the same. Though women in the Middle East and North Africa can take the agency over their own bodies to seek martyrdom, this agency originates in the stifling nature of traditional Islamic gender constraints and ends in notoriety that only perpetuates that same narrative.
The rise in the number of female suicide bombers in Middle East and North Africa, though significant for the sheer value of increased female participation in political action, does not point toward a feminization of martyrdom in the region. Women stifled by or frustrated with the gendered expectations dictating the trajectories of their lives feel they have to convince society of the validity of their contributions in order to reconstruct society’s normative ideals. This belief, however, is mistaken, because the validity of their sacrifice is only recognized within the context of its necessity.
Gender roles are not changing and increased female participation in suicide bombings is completely insulated from other forms of political activity. Women are welcomed into the realm of martyrdom because they and their bodies are viewed as efficient and disposable tools to achieve the carnage and resultant horror desired in an act of political violence. While the relationship between women and violence is evolving as the incidence of female suicide bombers becomes more common, “the changing relationship of women to violence should not… be construed as indicative of progress toward gender equality.”
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