This paper theorises whether gender-egalitarian values could be a helpful indicator in the effort of political science to explain the gender gap in political knowledge. It first develops a...Show moreThis paper theorises whether gender-egalitarian values could be a helpful indicator in the effort of political science to explain the gender gap in political knowledge. It first develops a theoretical framework based on the gendered political socialisation process. Based on country-level data from around the World Value Survey, it examines the relationship between gender-egalitarian values and the political knowledge of respondents in the CSES survey. Overall, it offers compelling insight into descriptive representation’s potential and limitations to understand the discrepancies between men and women in political knowledge.Show less
In the last decade, the participation of women in political violence has received an increasing amount of academic attention. However, scholars often neglected to find empirical evidence on the...Show moreIn the last decade, the participation of women in political violence has received an increasing amount of academic attention. However, scholars often neglected to find empirical evidence on the implications of women for armed groups perceived legitimacy. To fill this gap, this thesis explores the Women’s Protection Unit, which received worldwide media attention in their battle against the Islamic State, as a single case study. This thesis examines the Western perspective towards these women combatants by employing a qualitative content analysis of 43 Dutch newspaper articles. The results reveal that the media uses stereotypes about gender by framing these women combatants as non-aggressive, weaker, and less threatening than the male combatants of the Islamic State. As a result, the media legitimizes the use of violence of the female combatants as they need to protect themselves. Besides, the media glorifies the women of the YPJ by pointing out their fight for Western values, namely equality. Consequently, this thesis posits that the way the media frame the women combatants and their opponent, the Islamic State, favours the legitimacy of the armed group, the Women’s Protection Unit.Show less
