Women at War
The website of peacewomen.org states “when women are at the negotiating table,
peace is more likely”. Women face the loss of home, rearing children in war
torn surroundings, and far too often face war-rape , so they have a great stake
in ensuring peace. Yet, ironically, in Urdu, the words for war and army are
feminine, and the word for peace is masculine.
While war has been predominantly the domain of men, throughout
history there are examples of women who took to the battlefield. Some disguised
as men, some as groups of women fighters, and a few led forces into battle. Many
are familiar with Boudicca who led a rebellion in 60 AD against the Romans in Britain,
and the 17 year old Joan of Arc who fought with French troops to defeat the English
in 1429. Lady Fu Hao was considered the
most powerful military leader of China in 1200 BC. Alexander the Great’s half-sister,
Cynane fought alongside her brother. The Vietnamese venerate Lady Triệu who fought against Chinese
invaders in the 3rd C. Tarenorerer led indigenous people against British colonists in Tasmania in the 19th
C. Tomoe Gozen ( 12th C) and Nakano
Takeko ( 19 C) were well-known Japanese female Samurai . The Greek legend of the Amazons grew out of
the fierce nomadic Scythian women warriors whose horseback archery was
renowned.
In the 7th C Khawlah bint al-Azwar, fought alongside Khalid Bin Walid, and Ghazala the Kharijite was a commander in
battle. Nusaybah Bint Ka’ab fought in many of the early Muslim battles and became
known as the protector of the Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Uhud. Even the Wahabis
were led by a woman, Ghaliyya
al-Wahhabiyya , at the Battle of Turaba in 1814.
Lalla Fatma N'Soumer was one of many women who fought the
French for the independence of Algeria. Laila Khalid was a key member of the Palestinian
Liberation movement. The fearless women warriors of Eritrea are renowned. The
Kurdish women fighters, led by commanders like Azeema, turned the tide against
ISIS in the recent Syrian war.
In the 19thC many women led attacks against the British
colonisers in South Asia, including Hazrat
Mahal, Raani of Jhansi and Queen Kittur Chennamma. Malalai of Maiwand, namesake of Malala Yusufzai,
became a national hero of Afghanistan for
her role in the Battle of Maiwand in 1860,
In the 14thC Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq employed 500 Turkish female archers and 500 Habiwash Abyssinian
swordswomen as bodyguards. In the 1980s Moammar Gaddafi of Libya also appointed
female bodyguards, including his favourite, Ayesha, who died protecting him
during an ambush.
Soviet women fought in WWII, Chinese women were an integral part of the Long
March, and women were active members of the French Resistance, however the majority of women in modern day armed
forces have non-combat roles.
The first female combat pilot in the world was the Turkish Sabiha
Gökçen in the 1930s.In 2006, the first women fighter pilots joined the Pakistan
Air Force. British women first became
eligible to pilot combat aircraft in 1989. It wasn’t till 2016 that Canada and
USA allowed women in close combat, and Britain in 2018.
So what happened to that tradition of women warriors? How
did the image of a woman wielding a rolling pin supplant the archer or
swordswoman? War as a necessity was replaced by war as a strategy or as a
career option. Women mostly went to war
to defend their people from aggressors or in retaliation for the martyrdom of loved
ones. It is not that different from a mother in the animal kingdom protecting her
offspring from, sometimes very large, predators. After the emergence of the nation state with
formal armies to protect its borders, there was no need to train women in martial
arts for self –protection. Very rapidly
women became “the weaker sex”.
Some would argue this positioning is part of the gender
wars. One example cited is the designing of restrictive clothing for women. The
tight corsets and awkward hooped dresses of 19th Century Europe, and
later the pencil cut dresses, and stiletto heels, made free movement impossible.
Many states in USA legislated against women
wearing trousers well into the 1950s.
Upper class women suffer the most. They must appear women of leisure, with skin unblemished
by the sun, demure, sit side saddle, and not venture too far from home. In both World Wars, women who managed
factories, transport and built military equipment, with the exception of a few,
quietly put on their aprons and went back to the kitchen when their men came
back.
Probably the most insidious method of reducing the worth of
women is the endless sharing of marriage jokes. Humour is an effective way of
creating inequality or rank-reduction, whether of race, gender or disability. “it’s
just a joke” is the usual response to offended women who face 364 days of
demeaning jokes and one day of eulogy on Women’s Day.
Durriya Kazi
July 15, 2021
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