• Chapter 6
Middle-earth &
Feminist
Analysis of Conflict
What do gendersensitive lenses tell us
about war?
War depends on telling
gendered war stories
based in a logic of protection,
and on silencing or deligitimizing
stories that challenge them
Where are the women?
If women are present in the LOTR, their
roles tend to be minor
What work is masculinity doing?
Strategies and relationships among the
Fellowship are highly masculinized
Members are all unmarried, and the group
is hierarchically structured
How can the “hero” story
be challenged?
The story of the LOTR is
told from Frodo’s
perspective, but what about
other narratives which
might be “messier” than
Frodo’s view?
Hobbits illustrate how gendered and
hierarchical relationships can
perpetuate insecurity and inequality
for feminized “dependents”
Eowyn and Merry
emerge as unexpected
heroes in the Battle of
Pelennor Fields
People who are not
recognized as important
actually do influence key
events in significant ways
Private politics are critical
to the practice and understanding
of public politics
Non-dominant
perspectives
have important
and
underrecognized
sources of
wisdom
World War 1
through a
Gender-Sensitive
Lens
Gendered perceptions/assumptions
influence how war is conducted and how
decisions about going to war are made
Aircraft battles were
more chivalrous
than dropping
bombs – but the
German squadronstyle combat was
seen as cowardly
Military leaders valued boldness,
bravery, strength and chivalry over
defensive positioning, balancing,
patience and calculation
Dehumanizing or
feminizing enemies
allows for projecting
of dominating
relationships onto
the international
relations between
groups
World War 1 was
seen as a cure for
society’s ills and a
way to promote
positive masculine
values
Masculinized, militarized nationalism
promoted beliefs that war would be quick
and easy because “our men” were superior
“Just warriors” were
called on to defend
defenseless women
and children
(“beautiful souls”)
from bad guys
(barbaric Germans)
The decision of
potential recruits
whether or not to
enlist was
determined by
their “manliness”
The War in Iraq
through
a Gender-Sensitive
Lens
Marriage,
sexual assault,
prostitution, ethnic
politics, sexist
economies more
accurately and
clearly illuminate
the causes, costs,
consequences and
meanings of war
Gendered militarization has an
enormous impact on society
…because beauty was
“subverting civic order”
Moral criteria
identify when a
“just war” may be
undertaken and
how it may be
fought
Jus ad bellum
(just reasons)
Jus in bello
(just conduct)
Requires that war be
Requires that war be
fought only for
reasons characterized conducted only when
noncombatants are
by right intention, just
cause, right authority, insured immunity, and
proportionality of ends, when wars do more
good than harm
and for last resort
A redefinition of
“reasonable
chance of success”
should include
Justice
in the longer term
during
and after war
The political context that constructed and
sustained Iraq was gendered and unjust
Sanctions imposed
before the war were
unjustly aimed
at civilian targets
Post-war civil strife was
the opposite of a feminist
understanding of what
“success” in Iraq
would look like
Gender-sensitive analysis recognizes
the costs of war that are often ignored