How Women Wage War – A Short History of IS Brides, Nazi Guards and FARC Insurgents by Jessica Trisko Darden - The Conversation
The names of American-born Hoda Muthana and Brit Shamima Begum have appeared in countless headlines in the United States and Europe since these two female members of the Islamic State group were discovered in a large displaced persons camp weeks ago.
The women were among the holdouts in Islamic State’s last stronghold in Baghouz, Syria. When they were found by journalists, one was pregnant and the other was caring for her young child.
In the four years that these women lived as part of IS, they went from a self-described idyll in IS’s capital, Raqqa, to fleeing airstrikes with little more than the clothes on their backs. Now, as young mothers, they have been held up as iconic IS brides, evidence of the group’s ability to distort the minds of vulnerable teenagers.
In numerous interviews, these two women have wholeheartedly adopted this narrative.
“When I went to Syria, I was just a housewife for the entire four years – stayed at home, took care of my husband, took care of my kids,” Begum told Sky News. Although Muthana incited the murder of Americans on Twitter, according to these women’s accounts they did not take part in Islamic State’s violence. They did not even see it.
We’ve heard this story before.