Brides, black widows and baby-makers; or not: an analysis of the portrayal of women in English-language jihadi magazine image content

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the depiction of women in image content from 39 issues of official English-language magazine publications produced by designated terrorist organisations that follow a jihadist ideology. Research on the role of women in jihadi organisations has found that women are active at all levels within terrorist groups. This includes creating and disseminating terrorist content; planning, co-ordinating and carrying out attacks; and, supporting fighters as wives, mothers and homemakers. Our analysis, however, found that women are almost never depicted within the images of terrorist organisations’ official magazines. We argue that this airbrushing is a deliberate attempt to reinforce traditional gender roles and strengthen existing gender hierarchies within terrorist organisations, and we make a number of suggestions for future research in this understudied field.

KEYWORDS:

• Jihadist magazines
• Dabiq
• Inspire
• gender
• women
• images
• terrorism

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. They are also grateful to the following colleges and departments at Swansea University; Swansea Employability Academy; International Development Office; College of Law and Criminology; and, the College of Arts and Humanities.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. It is also worth noting that there are online magazines that have been created specifically for a female audience. The online magazine Al-Khansaa was published in 2004 by Al-Qaeda and aimed specifically at women, highlighting the importance ascribed to women in the organisation. Within the magazine, the emphasis is on supporting the male fighters and raising children in the ways of jihad. In 2011, Al-Qaeda published the first issue of Al-Shamikha. This magazine too highlighted the importance of women’s roles in supporting jihad as wives and mothers.

2. Within the United Kingdom, possession of terrorist magazines without reasonable excuse constitutes an offence under the Terrorism Act 2006 (UK Government 2006). As such, the Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit (WECTU) of South Wales Police was informed of the researchers’ intentions prior to the magazines being obtained. Furthermore, the magazines were carefully stored on encrypted drives and were only accessed by named researchers within carefully managed environments.

3. Roshonara Choudhry stabbed UK parliamentarian Stephen Timms MP in 2010. She was found guilty and jailed for life. Stephen Timms MP survived the assault.

4. These two images will be discussed later in this paper, under “Portrayal of women as corpses”.

5. The Pakistani teenager who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 for her attempts to promote education for young women in her local community. Surviving the shooting, Malala has gone on to become a well-known advocate for girls’ education, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

6. MIT-educated Saddiqui is a Pakistani national currently serving an 86-year sentence for the attempted murder of United States military personnel while being held captive at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Her trial and sentence was widely protested in her native Pakistan.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Orla Lehane

Orla Lehane completed her PhD (2018) in the School of Lawand Government at Dublin City University, funded by the IrishResearch Council.

David Mair is a PhD Candidate in the College of Law and Criminology at Swansea University and a member of the Cyberterrorism Project.

Saffron Lee recently graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Swansea University.

Jodie Parker has recently graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in Law from Swansea University.