Ways In Which The Body is Central to the Study of Gener and Politics: Part I

Analysing the body breaks down binary attitudes and diminishes the projection of political narratives onto the body. Overall, I will be focusing on the portrayal of the body during the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In this part, section I, I will highlight the creation of narratives surrounding war focusing on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.

Image: Vogue Polska

SECTION I: WAR & THE CREATION OF NARRATIVES

The body is central to the study of gender and politics as it has been the focus of binary narratives about gender. Simone de Beauvoir maintains that ‘one is not born, but becomes woman’. This suggests that societal expectations of femininity, such as becoming a housewife and mother, are projected onto individuals.

In this way, young girls grow up being told they are ‘beautiful souls’, vulnerable, emotional and in need of protection from ‘just warriors’, characteristics of which men hold- strength, emotionless and being a fighter. For instance, female Ukrainian soldiers have been glamorised in their military uniforms.

This suggests that, although binary gender roles can be disrupted and women can be seen as worthy of fighting, stereotypes of 'girliness' persist, and women are not taken seriously. It is vital to move beyond the binary debate of empowerment or victimhood in the case of women combatants; the ideology of the group, its objectives, leadership, underlaying culture and gender expectations all impact this.

An approach that analyses the body and mind as separate can be helpful here, as this illuminates that the body is restricted by society, but the mind, when seen as separate, can overcome these prescribed gender roles.

NATO quickly deleted their international women’s day tweet when it was recognised that the female Ukrainian soldier was wearing a black sun, a neo-Nazi symbol on her uniform.

Image: NATO Tweet

This could have supported Putin’s argument that he has invaded Ukraine to de-Nazify the country. Certainly, not all women fighting for Ukraine are neo-Nazis, and this is not a reason for Putin to have invaded Ukraine.

Still, the incident does show why it is important to analyse the body in this context. In the original tweet, the women were chosen because their female bodies could support NATO's narrative supporting international women's day. This demonstrates that competing political narratives are imposed on female bodies to support the interests of various groups.

Russia has mobilised the use of the Russian language and cultural traditions on specific ethnic groups in Ukraine to suggest that they belong to Russia. NATO's tweet, their deletion of it and the Russian reaction illustrates that gender is utilised similarly.

Historically, women have been viewed as deviant and corrupted due to their ‘emotional natures’, resulting in claims suggesting that women soldiers are always emotionally driven rather than having the ‘masculine’ strength to be warriors and protect their countries. Therefore, an analysis of how the body is used as a canvas for competing political narratives is vital.

The Ukrainian government has stated that women, children and the elderly can seek safety whilst martial law in Ukraine prohibits men between eighteen and sixty from leaving. The underlying assumption here is that women have biological strengths in child-rearing.

However, I contend that this has created an uneven concept of supererogation across gender roles. Supererogation refers to actions that, while morally good, are not necessarily morally required; thus, to engage in supererogation is to go beyond one’s moral duty.

The Ukrainian conscription policy implies that a woman's (but not a man's) choice of staying to fight is supererogation. This narrative suggests that as Ukrainian women are not legally required to fight in the war, then if they do, they go beyond their moral duties. This illustrates an additional way the body is used as a blank slate onto which political, cultural and moral narratives are imposed.

Some women may be just as biologically capable of fighting at war as men, but the binary conception of gender overrides this biological fact in the dominant narrative. Men do not have the same choice to choose whether they want to fight or flee; subsequently, it is not seen as supererogation when they fight.

The narrative that arises from the conscription policy shows how the body is used in war to cement differing gender roles. The breakdown of the rule of law seen in wartime has implications for groups whose bodies are marginalised by underlying social attitudes.

For example, people of colour have had issues fleeing from Ukraine as refugees, such as being pushed off buses and met with violence at the border. It is essential to analyse the body in times of war because underlying social prejudices regarding bodies of different races and genders manifest starkly in times of conflict, creating new challenges that further stigmatise and marginalise these groups.

In section II, I will highlight the narrative of the Kremlin and the militarisation of Russian family life.

Find Out More:

Bajaj, S.S and Stanford. F. C. 2022. The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Pathology of Racism. BMJ, viewed 26/04/2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220313041254id_/https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/376/bmj.o661.full.pdf.

Blair, A. 2022, Meet Ukraine’s gun-toting female soldiers fighting the propaganda war with Russia. New York Post, viewed 26/04/2022. https://nypost.com/2022/02/10/meet-ukraines-gun-toting-female-soldiers-fighting-the-propaganda-war-with-russia/.

Campaign Against Antisemitism. 2022 ‘Thank you @NATO for deleting this tweet which featured a soldier wearing a black sun neo-Nazi symbol […]’ Tweet. 09/03/2022. https://twitter.com/rupasubramanya/status/1501612825969664001.

de Beauvoir, Simone. 2011, The Second Sex. Edited by Constane Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier. London: Vintage.

Henry, Marsha. 2014, ‘War, Violence and Militarisation’, in M Evans (ed.), The Sage Handbook of Feminist Theories, SAGE Publications, pp529-534.

Higgins. I and Joyner. T. 2022, Men are required to stay and defend Ukraine, but women face a difficult choice- to flee, or fight, News, viewed 26/04/2022. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-10/why-these-women-are-staying-in-ukraine-to-help-the-war-effort/100893944.

Parashar, S. 2014, ‘(En)gendered Terror: Feminist Approaches to Political Violence’, in M Evans (ed.), The Sage Handbook of Feminist Theories, SAGE Publications, pp607-621.

Renic. N. C. 2019. ‘Battlefield Mercy: Unpacking the Nature and Significance of Supererogation in War.’ Ethics & International Affairs. Volume 33, Issue 3, pp343-362. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0892679419000364.