Ukrainian Women at War Are Going Viral for All the Wrong Reasons

Ukrainian Women at War Are Going Viral for All the Wrong Reasons
A young woman holds a weapon during a basic combat training for civilians organized by Ukraine’s National Guard, Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 13, 2022 (AP photo by Vadim Ghirda).

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, social media feeds have brimmed with portrayals of Ukrainian women’s remarkable spirit of resistance. In one widely shared video, a woman confronts a Russian soldier occupying her city, telling him to put sunflower seeds in his pockets so that when he dies on Ukrainian soil his grave will sprout the national flower. In a similarly widely shared tweet, a female parliamentarian described how her weekend gardening plans were scuttled by the need to learn how to handle a gun.

Yet, as women’s contributions to the war effort have gone viral, much of the response, including in the media, has adopted a breathless tone, portraying them as a novelty to be marveled or gawked at. In addition to doing these women a disservice, this kind of framing displays ignorance of the long history of women’s wartime mobilization.

Women’s participation in political violence, in Ukraine and elsewhere, should not come as a surprise or be portrayed as an aberration. To the contrary, it is an integral and routine part of conflict dynamics.

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