The Limits of “Western” Feminist Engagement with Kurdish Female Militancy
Kurdish female fighters are caught between orientalist fantasies of “kickass socialist-feminists” fighting “extremist Muslim men” and Western leftists squeamish about those fighters’ appeals for arms.
by Susan Benson-Sokmen
In a New York Times op-ed published during the siege of the Syrian city of Kobane in 2014, Meysa Abdo, a Kurdish commander of the all-female YPJ (Women’s Protection Units), appealed to “women around the world” to help the Syrian-Kurdish resistance in their battle against Da‘ish (ISIS). Abdo demanded feminist solidarity, particular…
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