Gendered Frames, Beyond the Bullets: Women's Framing of Survival and Agency in the Conflict in Asia: A Case Study of Malakand Division, KP, Pakistan
Contributors
- Dr. Jan Muhammaad Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
- Dr. Sajjad Ali Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
- Dr. Faizullah Jan Professor, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
- Intikhab Alam Independent Researcher, Dir Lower, Malakand Division, KP, Pakistan,
Abstract
In this study, the researchers used Framing theory is a theoretical framework to explore how women in Swat narrate and frame their experiences of the conflict of 2007-2009. Drawing on in-depth interviews with fourteen female respondents from across the Swat Valley the article details five dominant frames: Victimhood and Trauma, Societal Collapse, Attribution of Responsibility, Survival and Agency, and Media Critique. Women position themselves as victims of Taliban rule and military operations but also as possessing tactical agency through the enforced invisibility of women, clandestine education, and strategic neutrality. One of the most notable findings is the critical media literacy of the respondents, evidenced in their rejection of simplistic binaries and their insistence that media erased civilian suffering. This chapter adds to feminist conflict scholarship by highlighting women’s interpretive frameworks and resisting monolithic victim narratives.
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Corresponding Author
Dr. Sajjad Ali
Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Corresponding Author: [email protected]
