ABSTRACT
When considering images of war and conflict, battlefields are often front and centre. One need only think of images of soldiers in the trenches in Europe during World War I or allied soldiers landing at the Normandy beaches during World War II. In the more recent wars and conflicts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries are images of Hutu extremists carrying machetes during the Rwandan genocide, US soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and most recently government forces bombing rebels in the Syrian civil war. These images are most likely pictures of men – men in uniform and rebel men in civilian clothing, both carrying weapons. In essence, these are depictions of men fighting. Yet one must ask: where are the women? When there are images of women, these are often pictures of women fleeing their homes, as refugees in refugee camps, and often women carrying children. In essence, these are depictions of women as victims of war. This is the standard story of war: men as soldiers/warriors, women as civilians/victims. In spite of that, we know that the standard story of war is problematic as it does not capture the full extent of war in terms of who is doing the actual fighting, who is supporting the combatants, who are the peace activists, who is fleeing and who stays behind.
