This blog post is my very first grad school assignment! a 500 word opinion piece on women's experience in war. It could be on any subject we wanted relating to women and war. I chose to write about the power of words. The assignment isn't graded so I have no clue what my professor thinks of my piece but when I get her feedback I'll share. In the meantime I'd love to hear your feedback. Also, the citations at the end are technically not full citations, they were enough for my professor to know which readings I took facts from. If you are interested in knowing the full citations for any of these (if the subject/concept seems interesting to you) Let me know. Anyway, enjoy my paper....Much Love!
“Use your words!” Frustratedly, this phrase comes to mind repeatedly as I read and analyze war and its negative affects on women; because all too often words are not used prior to conflict and women pay the price. War brings destruction to communities, suspends freedoms, and inflicts pain and suffering on all involved. While the pain of war can be universalized between men and women, women experience war differently than men; arguably because women have so many varying roles during war, many of which men never experience or have to directly face. Women’s words must be heard before, during, and after conflict in order to craft sustainable peace and fully understand the ramifications of war on women specifically.
Without their words we have no way of comprehending how women experience and cope with conflict. Women are affected by war in unique ways, differing from men namely due to their traditional roles within the home as family caretakers. Women in Nepal who lost their husbands during the Maoist insurgency took on dual roles of carrying for their children while undertaking new laborious and financial responsibilities outside of the home.(i) Mothers and caretakers however are not the only roles women occupy during war and women’s experiences and perspectives vary within the same conflict. As illustrated by the Lebanese Civil War, where experiences of women ranged from actively providing food and first aid supplies to combatants, to having violence imposed on them- making up the majority of the civilian death toll.(ii) The most horrific experience imposed on women is the far too common exploitation of their bodies becoming the battlefield for conflict; regardless of it being murder followed by publicly displaying the body to threaten the enemy as seen in Sri Lanka or the systematic use of rape as a tool for establishing power and carrying out genocide in the Bosnian War.(iii)
Whether as victims, survivors, combatants, or activists, words shape the way we understand and perceive women’s experiences in war. Gendered discourse surrounding war can oppress women and subjugate them to silent icons that must be fought for or saved by men, or even assets of national security.(iv) Words can also be utilized as powerful tools for empowerment when justly heard during times of war and reconstruction. Equal participation for women in conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction, as called for in Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000) ,(v) is absolutely essential to the future of women in war. Women, because of their unique and complex experiences in war, must be an equal part of post-conflict negotiations and rebuilding. Their words can complete the picture of war and its implications, because while men are out fighting wars, women are left to deal with their destruction. No matter if a woman is fighting in the war or at home with their families, their words must be heard: without them we only hear one perspective and conflicts cannot be truly resolved without understanding the holistic ramifications of war.
i. Thapa, R. (2007) On the Edge: The Impact of the Insurgency on Nepali Women
ii. Vickers, J. (1993) The Impact of War on Women
iii. Parrot, A., & Cummings, N. (2008) War-Induced Sexual Slavery; Nordstrom, C. (2005) (Gendered) War; Thapa, R. (2007) On the Edge: The Impact of the Insurgency on Nepali Women
iv. Sharoni, S. (1994) Homefront as Battlefield; Sjoberg, L. (2006) Gendered States fight Sexualized Wars
v. United Nations Security Council. (October 31, 2000) Resolution 1325 S/RES/1325 (2000). Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf
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