The portrayal of female terrorists in the media: Similar framing patterns in the news coverage of women in politics and in terrorism

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism

Volumn 28, Issue 5, 2005, Pages 435-451

  Nacos, Brigitte L ^a  

^a Och Spine at New York Presbyterian Hospitals   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 27944499823     PISSN: 1057610X     EISSN: 15210731     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10576100500180352     Document Type: Review

References (91)

1. Greg Zoroya, "Her decision to be a suicide bomber." USA TODAY, 22 April 2002, p, A1. Retrieved from the ProQuest archive on 1 November 2003.
2. Christopher Dickey and Gretel C. Kovach, "Married to Jihad." Newsweek, 14 January 2002, p. 48.
3. Christopher C. Harmon, Terrorism Today (London: Frank Cash, 2000), p. 212.
4. Kim Fridkin Kahn, The Political Consequences of Being a Woman: How Stereotypes Influence the Conduct and Consequences of Political Campaigns (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).
5. I used "female terrorist," "woman (as) terrorist," "women (as) terrorist," and "female suicide bomber" to retrieve articles and transcripts from the LexisNexis and ProQuest archives for all available dates.
6. See, Pippa Norris, ed., Women, Media, and Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
7. Robert M. Entman, "Reporting Environmental Policy Debate:The Real Media Biases." Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 1(3), pp. 77, 78.
8. Shanto Iyengar. Is Anyone Responsible? (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), pp. 26-45.
9. Herbert J. Gans, Deciding What's News (New York: Vintage Books, 1980), p. 61.
10. David K. Shiper, "Blacks in the Newsroom." Columbia Journalism Review (May, June 1998), p. 28.
11. Norris, Women, Media, and Politics, p. 6.
12. Norris, Women, Media, and Politics, Ibid., p. 7.
13. Maria Braden, Women Politicians and the Media (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1996), especially chapter 1.
14. Braden, Women Politicians and the Media, p. 4.
15. Braden, Women Politicians and the Media; James Devitt, "Framing Gender and the Campaign Trail: Women's Executive Leadership and the Press" (Washington, DC: Women's Leadership Fund: 1999).
16. For examples see Braden, Women Politicians and the Media;.and Devitt, "Framing Gender and the Campaign Trail."
17. Martha Crenshaw, "Introduction: Reflection on the Effects of Terrorism," in Terrorism, Legitimacy and Power: The Consequences of Political Violence, edited by Martha Crenshaw (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1983), p. 24.
18. Anne McElvoy, "The Trapping of a Tigress." Times of London, 9 September 1995.
19. McElvoy A., "The Trapping of a Tigress." Times of London, 1995. Ibid.
20. Braden, Women Politicians and the Media, pp. 5, 6.
21. Cited in Sean Aday and James Devitt, "Style over Substance: Newspaper Coverage of Female Candidates." The Second in the White House Project Education Fund Series: Framing Gender on the Campaign Trail, 2000, p. 5.
22. Christopher Walter, "Twisted by anger, she turned to terror." The Times of London, 31 January 2002.
23. National Public Radio's program "All Things Considered," 7 February 2002.
24. CBN.com, retrieved 4 November 2003.
25. Joel Greenberg, "2 Girls, Divided by War, Joined in Carnage." New York Times, 5 April 2002, p. A1.
26. Media organizations in Europe and in North America reported frequently on the Chechen "black widows," especially after a large group of heavily armed Chechen women and men seized a Moscow theater with hundreds of Russians inside in October 2002.
27. Katharine Viner, "Palestinian liberation fighter Leila Khaled." The Guardian, 26 January 2001.
28. Philip Baum interviewed Khaled for Aviation Security International. See (http://www.avsec.com/ editorial/leilakhaled.htm).
29. Viner, "Palestinian liberation fighter Leila Khaled."
30. Antonella Lazzeri, "They're deadly, they are ruthless, they're women." The Sun (UK), 4 August 2002.
31. Sinikka Tarvainen, "The life of female terrorists: guns, reluctant sex, and longing." Deutsche Presse Agentur, 2 November 1997, BC Cycle.
32. Thanassis Cambanis, "Witness tells of accused pair's ties." Boston Globe, 17 July 2002, p. B4. The full name of Hale's white supremacist hate organization is World Church of the Creator.
33. The letter-to-the-editor appeared in the Los Angeles Times on 2 February 2002, p. M4 in response to an article headlined "Palestinian bomber stood out from the rest," published on 31 January 2002.
34. Braden, Women Politicians and the Media, pp. 150, 162.
35. See, for example, Bernard Weintraub, "Woman Hijacker Feels 'Engaged to the Revolution.'" New York Times, 9 September 1970, p. 19.
36. McElvoy, "The Trapping of a Tigress."
37. Giles Tremlett, "ETA brings women fighters to the fore." The Guardian (London), 27 August 2002, p. 13.
38. Alex Williams, "Exclusive: Suicide Bomber's Husband on why he is Proud of her Military Act." The Mirror, 1 February 2002, p. 15.
39. See, for example, Thomas G. Otte, "Red Army Faction: The Baader-Meinhof Gang." In Encyclopedia of World Terrorism, Volume 3, edited by Martha Crenshaw and John Pimlott (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1997), pp. 552-556.
40. Karla J. Cunningham, "Cross-National Trends in Female Terrorism." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 26(3) (May-June 2003), p. 163.
41. Robin Morgan, The Demon Lover: The Roots of Terrorism (New York: Washington Square Press, 2001), p. 204.
42. Robin Morgan, The Demon Lover: The Roots of Terrorism Ibid., p. 208.
43. Judy Mann, "Terrorism and the Cult of Manly Men." Washington Post, 19 December 2001, p. C10.
44. Morgan, The Demon Lover, p. xv.
45. Morgan, The Demon Lover, p. xv. Ibid.
46. Michael Getler, "Women play growing role in slayings by West German terrorist groups." Washington Post, 6 August 1977.
47. Klaliff, "Women in the White Pride Movement." Available at (http://women.stormfront.org/ writings/women.htm), retrieved 20 October 2003.
48. Klaliff, " Women in the White Pride Movement." Ibid.
49. Thanassis Cambanis, "Witness tells of accused pair's ties." Boston Globe, 17 July 2002, p. B4.
50. James Bennett, "Rash of new suicide bombers exhibit no patterns or ties." New York Times, 21 June 2002, p. A1. Arien Ahmed did not go through with the suicide mission and ended up in an Israeli jail.
51. See, for example, Tremlett, "ETA brings women fighters to the fore."
52. Linda Watson-Brown, "Gender warriors." The Scotsman, 26 September 2000, p. 4.
53. Donatella della Porta, "Left-Wing Terrorism in Italy,"in Terrorism in Context, edited by Martha Crenshaw ( University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), p. 141.
54. Terrorism in Context, Ibid.
55. Kenneth L. Woodward and Phyllis Malamud, "Now, the violent woman." Newsweek, 6 October 1975, p. 29.
56. Kenneth L. Woodward and Phyllis Malamud, " Newsweek, Ibid.
57. Judy Klemesrud, "A Criminologist's View of Women Terrorists." New York Times, 9 January 1979, p. A24.
58. Judy Klemesrud, "A Criminologist's View of Women Terrorists." New York Times, 1979, p. A24. Ibid.
59. Freda Adler, Sisters in Crime (New York: Waveland Press, 1975), p. 20.
60. Freda Adler, Sisters in Crime 1975, Ibid., pp. 21, 22.
61. Paul Hofmann, "Women active among radicals in Western Europe." New York Times, 14 August 1977, p. 7.
62. Hanna-Renate Laurien, a conservative, was quoted by Kim Wilkinson, "The Hit Women." Newsweek, 15 August 1977, p. 30.
63. Getler, "Women playing growing role in slayings."
64. Getler, " Women playing growing role in slayings." Ibid.
65. Getler, " Women playing growing role in slayings." Ibid.
66. Susan Jacoby, "Terrorism is Women's Work Too." Washington Post, 2 October 1992, p. C8.
67. Libby Copeland, "Female Suicide Bombers: the New Factor in Mideast's Deadly Equation." Washington Post, 27 April 2002, p. C1.
68. James Bennett, "Arab Press Glorifies bomber as Heroine." New York Times, 11 February 2002, p. 8.
69. James Bennett, " New York Times, Ibid.
70. Laura Ann Trombley, "Female Suicide Bomber: The Newest Trend in Terrorism." Available at (http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/joe/trombl. html).
71. Stephanie Shemin, "Wrongheadedness of female suicide bombers." Chicago Tribune, 18 June 2002, p. 23.
72. Hofman, "Women active among radicals."
73. Tremlett, "ETA brings women fighters to the fore."
74. Peter Goodspeed, "Cruel 'black widows' eager to die." National Post (Canada), 30 October 2002, p. 3.
75. Jacoby, "Terrorism is women's work too."
76. Peter H. Merkl, "West German Left-Wing Terrorism," in Terrorism in Context, edited by Martha Crenshaw (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), pp. 161-210.
77. Klemesrud, "A criminologist's view of women terrorists."
78. Getler, "Women playing growing role in slayings."
79. Getler, " Women playing growing role in slayings." Ibid.
80. Adel Darwish, "From Boredom to Bombs - Two Female Terrorists." WIN Magazine, April 1999.
81. Patricia Pearson, "Hard to imagine female bad guy? Think again." USA TODAY, 30 January 2002, p. 13A.
82. Patricia Pearson, " USA TODAY, Ibid.
83. Cunningham, "Cross-national trends in female terrorism," pp. 171, 172.
84. Harmon, pp. 219, 220.
85. Cunningham, "Cross-national trends in female terrorism," p. 180.
86. Steven Lee Myers, "Female Suicide Bombers Unnerve Russians." New York Times, 7 August 2003, p. 1.
87. Hamas's first female suicide bomber was Reem al-Reyashi, a 22-year-old mother of two small children. Yassin was quoted in Greg Myre, "Gaza Mother, 22, Kills Four Israeli Soldiers." New York Times, 15 January 2004, p. A3.
88. Available at (http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/888153.asp).
89. Elaine Sciolino, "Terror Suspect in Italy Linked to More Plots." New York Times, 11 June 2004, p. A3.
90. Shoot the Women First was therefore chosen as the title of a book exploring the phenomenon of female terrorists. See Eileen MacDonald, Shoot the Women First ( New York: Random House, 1992).
91. Brigadier-General Gadi Shamni, the Gaza divisional commander, was quoted in Chris McGreal, "Human-bomb mother kills for Israelis at Gaza checkpoint." The Guardian, 15 January 2004, p. 17.