The norms and expectations prevailing in the society that an armed group is based, or operating in, can have a considerable impact on the group’s decision-making, as we will see in the chapter on societal aspects. The same is true for individual motivations, which can also be heavily influenced by the positions of the society or community an individual comes from (Bloom, 2005: 244, Ness, 2008b: 4, Alison, 2009: 153). In the case of the prevailing societal norms and expectations that a society is shaped by, these can either produce a general atmosphere that is supportive of women joining the fight, or which disapproves of women’s inclusion. I will discuss these different factors in detail in the chapter on societal aspects (as the impact societal norms and expectations had on individual motivations was largely the same they had on organisational decision-making), but will provide a brief overview here.
Lebanon in the 1960s and 1970s was a society undergoing considerable social change (Abisaab, 2010, Traboulsi, 2012). New spaces and opportunities were slowly opening up for women in public life, especially in Beirut, and to a certain degree also in other bigger cities and even some more rural areas. Female participation in public life, as part of the working force but also in political organisations and initiatives, became more
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widespread and accepted (Abisaab, 2010, Traboulsi, 2012). This had an encouraging and empowering effect on many women and opened up the possibility of their later military involvement to be seen as an “extension of their involvement with public organizations such as neighborhood
committees” and similar initiatives (Cunningham, 2008: 88). This effect has been described by existing research focusing on other conflict contexts where “women have participated fully in the early stages of the political resistance at all levels”, which facilitated their inclusion in the armed struggle (Bloom, 2005: 147, see also Eager, 2008: 186, Alison, 2009: 142). Several interviewees mentioned that this recent change in Lebanese society made people more receptive to the idea of women being involved in military roles and that this, in turn, encouraged women personally to join the fight (interviewees 1, 7, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 52, 54, 64, 65).
If women who have joined the fight are praised as heroes within the community, this can encourage other women to follow suit (Bloom, 2005: 159). As shown above in the section on organisational characteristics influencing individual motivations, this might be one of the reasons why the numbers of female fighters with the leftist and Palestinian militias (who had many well-known iconic female members), were considerably higher than those with the Christian organisations. A similar observation can be made with regards to the conflict in Northern Ireland where “[r]epublicanism has
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promoted active images of women as ‘freedom fighters’ and female paramilitary members have been celebrated in a number of republican street murals in nationalist areas” (Alison, 2009: 142), whereas the Protestant community, which has produced very few female fighters, has
not actively promoted images of women in military roles (Alison, 2009: 153). It is important in this context to bear in mind that societal attitudes to women’s involvement are neither static nor monolithic. They do change over time, and often there is considerable variation in different parts of a country and different sections of society. This is why variation in time and location needs to be borne in mind. In this context, it is telling that the number of female fighters during the Lebanese civil war was higher in the relatively open and cosmopolitan city of Beirut than it was in more conservative cities such as Saida or in the Mountains, as will be discussed in more detail in Chapter Seven. The fact that, as foregrounded above, most fighters were based in Beirut, but originally came from the south and other relatively deprived parts of the country, is also noteworthy. On the one hand, due to their precarious socio-economic position, these women had more to fight for, less to lose and more to gain (interviewee 32). On the other, living away from their extended families, who had stayed in their home regions, meant that they were subject to less societal control (interviewee 2). Evidence from other conflict contexts worldwide indicates
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that class also plays a role in this context insofar as a woman’s socio- economic background can have an impact on how receptive society is to her inclusion as a fighter (Reif, 1986: 151-153, Lobao, 1990: 188-189, cit. in Shayne, 1999: 86, Sajjad, 2004: 6). In the context of this research project, I
could not come to a categorical conclusion in this regard. Some interviewees mentioned that women from middle class families enjoyed more freedoms because they and their families were more politically aware and believed that personal sacrifices had to be made for the sake of society’s advancement (interviewee 3). Others believed that the participation of working class women was less frowned upon as they had already been working in traditionally male positions, alongside the men, on the fields or in the factories for decades (interviewees 1, 2, 7, 12, 18, 29, 30). Lastly, there is often a tendency amongst communities that have experienced prolonged and protracted conflict and who see their very existence as under threat, to allow female participation as part of a general mobilisation, in all sectors of society (Cunningham, 2003, Dearing, 2010). I will show how this played out during the Lebanese civil war in Chapter Seven.
Lebanese society was influenced by slowly changing gender norms and expectations in the 1960s and 1970s. This process was amplified by the war when security considerations trumped some socio-cultural norms. However, Lebanon remained a relatively gender-conservative country. In most areas
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of life, gender expectations remained clearly defined. This was the main reason why the overall numbers of female fighters during the war in Lebanon remained relatively low. The majority of society disapproved of female inclusion in military operations. Most women, as members of this
society, either agreed with this view or were discouraged to join by society’s disapproval (interviewees 28, 31, 32, 45). There were, of course, exceptions. Some women were so motivated they placed less value on the wider community’s approval and joined the armed struggle regardless. One interviewee, for example, claimed that “whether they [the family] accept it or not, when a young woman decides to go [to war], she will not ask her parents” (interviewee 59). Another former fighter contended that “the main issue [in deciding whether or not a woman will join] is not the community but it’s her” (interviewee 23). However, society’s disapproval did discourage other women who might have otherwise been interested in joining a non- state armed organisation (interviewees 23, 28, 32, 59).