Elshtain's Role In The Militarization Of Women

Contrary to the dominant narrative that portrays women as victims of war and genocide, women have played a vital role in the participation of these atrocities, ranging across region, time, and event. Beginning in the 1990’s, with a rise in feminist and gender theory, historians have become interested in studying women’s roles in war, not only as victims of violence, but also as perpetrators. One of these watershed moments in this study was Jean Bethke Elshtain’s Women and War, which argued that women for centuries have involved themselves in the militarization of nations and violence. Elshtain is a social philosopher who has dramatically influenced the humanities with her contribution to challenging gender stereotypes. While Elshtain’s book
Through previously untouched German files in Ukraine and Poland, Lower reveals a world of female perpetrators previously unknown, or unimagined. Her research challenges our gendered understanding of women's ability to commit sadistic atrocities and further to engage and encourage violence. Another critical aspect Lower demonstrates, is the various reasons for women's engagement in violence. Her research illustrates the mundane, routine, work ranging from desk work, to nursing that build to create the inner workings of the Holocaust. Lower uses case studies of thirteen women and gives detailed backgrounds of each. By keeping her case studies small, she demonstrates the ordinariness of these women. Young, driven girls, coming from ordinary homes that contributed to the killings of Eastern European Jews. Lower provides an essential platform for my proposal while also illustrating a methodological approach and sources that could be of use. These sources include documents such as journals, witness testimonies, and court files. In her methodology, Lower specifically focuses on women in each source. The author uses a type of subaltern approach to reveal details of women that were previously dismissed due to gendered assumptions that suggest women are unable to contribute to violence. Further, by legitimation occupational positions in the Third Reich such as typist, nurses, and wives as active members in the genocide campaign, Lower reveals how each case study helped the Nazis in their destruction of the Jews. Each of Lower’s source types can be applied to locating sources for my research within the Armenian