Gender in the Balkan Wars: An Invitation to Manliness and Motherhood

• In Event: Stability and Change in Visual Communication

Abstract

This paper looks at news and propaganda images to explore how the Balkan conflicts link gender with violence and perpetuate war by rearticulating normative gendered behavior. Our analysis suggests that men march to war because they have little choice to do otherwise without having their masculinity and loyalty questioned, and that views of women being without agency need to be reassessed due to nuances of participation that involve agency at various levels.

Authors

• Christian Vukasovich, Bowling Green State Univ

• Linda Ziberi, Bowling Green State University