Abstract
With their post-9/11 emphasis on international conflict, the U.S. news media have noted women's involvement with terrorism and tried to explain the motives of female suicide bombers. This qualitative study examined the motive explanations in broadcast and print news from 2002, when a woman detonated a suicide bomb in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, through October 2004, after Chechen women participated in the Beslan school siege. The study found five motive explanations: strategic desirability, the influence of men, revenge, desperation, and liberation. The study considers how news coverage of suicide bombers reinforces or challenges popular beliefs about women and war.
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