Violence in/Through Gendered Narratives of War: The Case of Iraq and Abu Ghraib
摘要
Albeit the violence of rape and sexual torture (RST) practices is already recognized, the violence of the gendered narratives of war (re)produced through media is less acknowledged. To comprehend the dual violence of enacting and reproducing gendered narratives of war that shape wartime gendered performances, dehumanize the other, and conceal interpersonal violence, a feminist poststructuralist approach is used to explore the case of the use of RST practices in Abu Ghraib, during the US invasion of Iraq. Hence, this chapter argues that gendered narratives of war, (re)produced, namely, by mainstream media, are violent by enacting RST practices that (re)gender both the victimized and victimizing bodies, and by suppressing alternative ways of thinking, being, and acting during armed conflict.