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Introduction: A Woman Did That?

In Laura Sjoberg and Caron E. Gentry’s introduction to Mothers, Monsters, and Whores: Women’s Violence in Global Politics, Sjoberg and Gentry introduce the mothers, monsters, and whores paradigm to depict a dichotomy in the succession of the status of women: their perceived status and the actuality of their status. The treatment of women’s violence globally demonstrates that traditional gender norms remain intact; whether consciously or unconsciously people weigh individual’s actions through expectations of gendered behavior. Sjoberg and Gentry outline incidents such as Abu Ghraib to illustrate that incidents of violence committed by women warrant attention not necessarily because of the nature of the violence, but predominantly because these acts were committed by women. Similar or identical acts committed by men do not warrant the same attention. This should speak to a still existing divide in gender equality. Women who participate in violence that is not endorsed by state governments, i.e. capturing hostages, engaging in suicide bombings, hijacking airplanes and abusing prisoners, are viewed as less than human because they fail to meet prescribed societal gender norms. These norms portray women as naturally nurturing and maternal, peace loving, and emotionally sensitive. Sjoberg and Gentry argue that violent women may be categorized three ways: as mothers, monsters, or whores. Mothers use violence as a means of fulfilling biological destinies, monsters use violence because they are pathologically damaged and therefore drawn to it, and whores are simply drawn to violence due to a reactionary byproduct of sexual dependence and deprivation. Narratives of maternal violence describe women’s violence as a “need to belong, a need to nurture, and a way of taking care and being loyal to men”. Alternatively monster narratives suggest that women are irrational, and in denial of their femininity. And, whore narratives blame women’s violence on the evils of the extremities of female sexuality, i.e. intensity or vulnerability. Women’s sexuality is characterized as erotomania, both extreme and brutal. These narratives are guilty of fully “othering” violent women and in turn reinforcing gender norms by condemning the behavior of women who default from their natural duties as women. These narratives of mother, monster, and whore, are formulated on the basis of gender norms. The individual behavior of those who stray from traditional gender norms can be attributed to the inherent weakness of feminine character. As mentioned above, Sjoberg and Gentry use the mother, monster, and whore narratives to illustrate the dichotomy between the perceived status of women and the actuality of the status of women. It is largely believed that women have achieved equality, or that they are on the brink of it, but this is untrue. Equality rather, has been institutionalized, i.e. equal opportunity in the workforce, leading us to believe women have a legitimate claim to it when in reality equality still exists in forms we have yet to examine because they are so entrenched in our culture. These gender norms, these basic forms of inequality our routed in our basic belief systems. We cannot believe that a woman did that.