Constructing Female Terrorism

Gender, Political Violence and National Identity in Britain and France Since 1952
A critical examination of UK and French medias representation of politically violent women, which shines fresh light on the construction of national gender identities.
News media reporting on female political violence invariably portrays the perpetrators as duped, nave and exploited, acting from personal rather than political motivations, as anomalous intruders in a masculine realm and de-feminized as monsters. By diminishing their agency, the challenge that womens violence poses to the gendered national order is contained.Drawing on five comparative case studies spanning more than 70 years of militant campaigns against the UK and France, this book interrogates how media representations of politically violent women are shaped by gender, race, religion, class and geography. It considers how womens political violence is framed, what influences these portrayal