Abstract:In recent years, extensive empirical data has indicated that acts of severe sexual assault are being perpetrated against large numbers of men in many areas of conflict around the world. In spite of such data, recognition of this problem within gender studies remains limited. This is due to many reasons including the opposition of a variety of feminism that is reluctant to acknowledge male victimhood. This paper argues that feminist reservations about a focus on male-directed sexual violence in conflict are unf… Show more
“…Against the backdrop of bloodshed inflicted by such weapons, scenes which combine weapons and violence with male sexuality could plausibly be interpreted as conceptualizations of male sexualized violence (Figure 5) (Horn, 2018) as known from cross-cultural studies (Seifert, 1996). That such violence was not only directed against women (O'Mochain, 2018) may also find a parallel in rock art where such scenes can involve hetero- and homosexual interaction, as well as animals. Figure 5.Scenes potentially showing sexualized violence.…”
In the Bronze Age, warriors are probably the best-known social class. Evidence for warfare and other violent encounters links them to aggression and bloodshed that could be translated into social status. This made warriors a potential two-fold threat to the social cohesion of their communities: not only did they risk threatening the integrity of communities as agents of death but also they could challenge local authority and cause internal conflict. Here, the author presents evidence that suggests that internal conflict was a major concern for Nordic Bronze Age societies, in that warriors constituted an internal social challenge, and proposes that local communities may have mitigated this threat in rituals such as the sacrifice of weapons and the construction of social narratives through rock art.
“…Against the backdrop of bloodshed inflicted by such weapons, scenes which combine weapons and violence with male sexuality could plausibly be interpreted as conceptualizations of male sexualized violence (Figure 5) (Horn, 2018) as known from cross-cultural studies (Seifert, 1996). That such violence was not only directed against women (O'Mochain, 2018) may also find a parallel in rock art where such scenes can involve hetero- and homosexual interaction, as well as animals. Figure 5.Scenes potentially showing sexualized violence.…”
In the Bronze Age, warriors are probably the best-known social class. Evidence for warfare and other violent encounters links them to aggression and bloodshed that could be translated into social status. This made warriors a potential two-fold threat to the social cohesion of their communities: not only did they risk threatening the integrity of communities as agents of death but also they could challenge local authority and cause internal conflict. Here, the author presents evidence that suggests that internal conflict was a major concern for Nordic Bronze Age societies, in that warriors constituted an internal social challenge, and proposes that local communities may have mitigated this threat in rituals such as the sacrifice of weapons and the construction of social narratives through rock art.
“…While feminist scholarship has been quite vocal about gendered metaphors in international relations (e.g. Peterson, 1992; Shepherd, 2006; Sjoberg and Gentry, 2007; Tickner, 2002), the representation of referent objects in securitization discourses has been accorded less scrutiny 1 than the masculinity of securitizing actors who are supposed to save the damsels and their children in distress (O’Mochain, 2018; Wibben, 2016).…”
The Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 was a culmination of anti-Ukrainian rhetoric that Russian political elite and state-controlled media have been promoting at least since 2013. Apart from accusing Ukraine of being a Neo-Nazi state, pro-Kremlin commentators have espoused a heavily gendered rhetoric describing Ukraine as a loose woman in need of saving by its older brother. Gendered discourse was instrumentalized in Russian foreign policy not only through aggressive masculinity, but also through femininity. The latter, in contrast, sought to downplay the aggressive masculinity associated with fascism and consequently diminish Ukraine’s agency and status compared to Russia. This article offers a taxonomy of feminization rhetoric that shows how different types of gendered constructs influence the success of securitization process. Drawing on empirical material from Russian social networks during the first war in Ukraine in 2014–2016, this article argues against gender’s silencing role but, instead, its central role in influencing every stage of securitization process. Moreover, the author shows how feminization rhetoric paved the way to the legitimation of the current war.
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