ABSTRACT
The concept of ambivalence in representation—the constant fluctuation between depictions of actual life experiences and their idealizations in cultural narratives—is strikingly reflected in the images of women and war found in political cartoons. This fluctuation creates ambiguities as the lines between the idealized and the actual begin to blur; it becomes difficult to determine exactly the role of women and the impact of war, since the same formulations are used both to legitimate existing relations and, at the same time, to challenge them. The new interpretations of women and war become both liberating and confining. Still, even though political cartoons as a form tend to distort and embellish the traits of all social groups and events, they favor or disfavor some groups and events at the expense of others. All too often, women's actual experiences become trivialized and/or compartmentalized, and war's terrible ravages lose their edge. The ultimate puzzle is how and why these interpretations have come to prevail over others.
