Female Suicide Bombers: Israeli Newspaper Reporting and the Public Construction of Social Reality

Abstract

This paper examines the construction of the image of female suicide bombers in Israeli newspapers during the Second Intifada. A comparative analysis was conducted of descriptions of male and female suicide bombers in 436 press reports. The results demonstrated significant gender differences in almost all of the categories that were examined. For example, the frequency of references to the terrorists’ external appearance was higher for women than for men. Additionally, female terrorists who were arrested were often described as crying or screaming, whereas only the rare male terrorist was described as exhibiting the same behavior. This analysis shows that reports tend to use basic interpretation patterns to ‘define reality’ and include a nucleus of cultural and cognitive metaphors for women in general and for Palestinian women in particular. Public narratives construct these women by highlighting particular versions of ‘otherness’ as victims of circumstance; that is, from their despondent and low familial status within Palestinian society.