Leiden University Student Repository

Zwartjes, Katrine (2020)

The Daughters of Pallas Athena. A Study on the Framing of Dutch and Belgian Female Jihadist Militants

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

My master thesis is a study on the framing of Dutch and Belgian female militants connected to the jihadist organization ISIS in Dutch and Belgian newspapers from 2013 to 2019. The archetypes on militant women is linked to women from Greek mythology: the monstrous Medusa, the magical mother Medea, and the misandrist Amazon Penthesilea. These women are opposites of the peaceful and beautiful Helen of Troy, who is the ‘ideal Western woman.’ From the archetypes I derived seven sub-frames: (1) Medusa brainwashed, (2) Medusa dangerous, (3) Medusa mental issues, (4) Medea supporting mother and wife, (5) Medea religion, (6) Penthesilea committed like men/ emancipation, (7) Penthesilea seeking husband/ romantic notion. From the changes over time and by country and newspaper I concluded that 2017 was a turning point in the framing of female militants. Female militants became more salient and their framing turned more agentive. Gender stereotypes became less dominant in the frame. However,...Show moreMy master thesis is a study on the framing of Dutch and Belgian female militants connected to the jihadist organization ISIS in Dutch and Belgian newspapers from 2013 to 2019. The archetypes on militant women is linked to women from Greek mythology: the monstrous Medusa, the magical mother Medea, and the misandrist Amazon Penthesilea. These women are opposites of the peaceful and beautiful Helen of Troy, who is the ‘ideal Western woman.’ From the archetypes I derived seven sub-frames: (1) Medusa brainwashed, (2) Medusa dangerous, (3) Medusa mental issues, (4) Medea supporting mother and wife, (5) Medea religion, (6) Penthesilea committed like men/ emancipation, (7) Penthesilea seeking husband/ romantic notion. From the changes over time and by country and newspaper I concluded that 2017 was a turning point in the framing of female militants. Female militants became more salient and their framing turned more agentive. Gender stereotypes became less dominant in the frame. However, framing in relation to religion stayed in the frames of newspapers. Religion remained essential to ‘other’ female militants from the norm of ‘good Western women.’Show less

Jihadism

female terrorism

Framing

Gender stereotypes and archetypes

Neo-Orientalism

Islamic State

Author

Zwartjes, Katrine

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

MA International Studies

Supervisors

Cusumano, Eugenio

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en