I still remember, and I bet you too, those history lessons at elementary school about the prehistoric era. The invention of fire, the evolution of nomadic beings to sedentarism, the invention of agriculture, and so on. All those are facts that get stuck in our head and become an established knowledge for everybody. In that way, since those days, I always took as real fact the idea of gender roles in history. Books tell us that everyday activities were divided according to strength or abilities, so men were meant to hunt and fight to defend their tribes, while women would harvest and take care of the domestic sphere. We never question this because we were taught to believe that these are proven events, as so we’ve come to understand and see gender roles as a normalized phenomenon. In that way, when we think about events like wars and conflicts, we immediately associate them with men, as if it were part of their nature. In the same way, I also understood that the role of women was to stay home, educate children, and continue their life while the men were away. At least that’s what history lessons claim, right? Well, not really. Recent studies -like archaeologist Mark Dyble’s research for the University College London- show that in prehistoric times gender equality was essential to the development of societies and allowed the evolution of our species. Northwestern University researcher Lee T. Gettler, claims that prehistoric men also devoted themselves to the care of their children. By doing so, they helped in the creation of the family bases.In the same way as I believed that, in the past, activities were determined by gender, I also thought that strong warrior women only belonged to the realm of fiction. I mean, we learned that Joan of Arc led the French army to war with England. But in her biography, most people focus on the fact that God talked to her and commanded her on this mission. Now, don’t take me wrong, but I really never bought that part of the story, it actually seems more fictional than the legend of Hua Mulan. As I got more interested in history, little by little, I found hidden in the pages of books, the stories of amazing, strong warrior women who fought in battles. Moreover, once you start researching, you notice endless cases of women dressing as men to join the army. As so, these characters prove that war wasn’t an experience exclusive to men. Women have always been involved because they’re part of our human essence.
In the same way, there are many novels that explore that experience and shed light on the concept of warfare, conflict, resilience, and the instinct of survival, shattering the label that states only men are capable of enduring this experience. Here below is a list of five novels with female characters whose stories develop around specific conflicts, showing us not only the value of strength and bravery, but that war isn’t only experienced in the battlefield, but in crises that affect every sphere of life. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa (2006)
Focused on a young Palestinian woman named Amal, we learn the stories of her family as they endure a conflict that has touched the lives of three generations. We learn that her father was shot in a battle against the Israeli army, one of her twin brothers was abducted by an Israeli soldier and raised as a Jewish man, and her other brother joins the army, devoting his life to the Palestinian cause. Mornings in Jenin shows us the despair and cruelty endured by a family who has been in the middle of a war for all their lives. Moreover, it’s a story about identity and the struggle of a country trying to defend its land from invasion. – The Tiger Claw by Shauna Singh Baldwin (2004)
The Tiger Claw is based on the life of Noor Inayat Khan, an American-Indian woman who spied on the Nazis during the Second World War. After rebelling against her family to find the love of her life –a French man named Armand, who lived in Nazi-occupied France–, Noor becomes a spy for the resistance. She moves to an apartment in front of the concentration camp where Armand is being held. The novel starts with her imprisonment in Germany, where she is asked to write stories for children. Through her writings, she hides secret messages, describing her life, accomplishments, and the struggle between her personal and national identity.
– Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2006)
Set in the Biafra conflict, or Nigeria’s Civil War, the novel tells the story of five characters: a thirteen-year-old houseboy, the twin daughters of a businessman, a professor, and a British man. The author shows how the Biafra Declaration of Secession turns their lives upside down due to its new legislations –like ethnic divisions– and the horrors they had to endure during the conflict between the Hausa and the Igbo, the two main Nigerian ethnic groups. The novel’s ambiguous ending reflects the uncertainty people feel while living at war.
–S. by Slavenka Drakulić (1999)
This novel is a great example of how wars are not lived just in the battlefields. With tough and shocking anecdotes of the Bosnian war during the nineties, S. tells the story of a woman who was raped and tortured by the occupying army. After giving birth to a baby, product of these multiple rapes, this exiled woman –who has lost everything: her family, friends, country, and whole life– lives tormented by the ghosts of the horrors she endured during the war, horrors that will accompany her for the rest of her days.– Sand Queen by Helen Benedict (2011)
Set in a recent conflict, Sand Queen tells the story of Kate Brady, an American 19-year-old who decides to join the Army in the Iraq conflict. Once there, she sees the difficult life of female soldiers in war. Not only does she have to endure the traumas and dangers of war, but also the harassment of her fellow soldiers. There she meets Naema Jassim, an Iraqi young student whose family is being held in a camp. Soon, they will start a friendship of mutual help, and hope of survival. Within the horrors of war, these young women will learn that every conflict between two countries is futile since the human experience is the same.–***Women have always taken part in the development of history. Although some of their achievements have passed undercover and have been unacknowledged, their deeds will always leave an everlasting mark in humankind’s history. Whether they actually fought, served as spies, or documented determined conflicts, their role will always be extremely relevant.
***Source:
Huffington Post
The Guardian
NBC News
