Women on the walls: Representations of women in political murals in Northern Ireland

William Rolston

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    13 Citations (Scopus)
    3754 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The article documents the under-representation of women in political wall murals in Northern Ireland. There are significantly fewer representations of women than of men in these murals. Where women do appear, it is within a number of specific themes: as political activists, prisoners, victims or historical or mythological characters. The findings will be located within an analysis which sees the murals as a specific articulation of gender as a dimension of political mobilisation during conflict and in the period of transition from conflict. In short, the images sometimes reinforce and at other times challenge gender role expectations and norms. The extent of that reinforcement and challenge differs significantly between republican and loyalist murals. Nowhere do women receive representational equality with men, but in relation to loyalist murals, that absence comes close to being tantamount to silence.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)365-389
    Number of pages25
    JournalCrime, Media, Culture
    Volume14
    Issue number3
    Early online date12 Jul 2017
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Dec 2018

    Keywords

    • Conflict
    • Northern Ireland
    • representations of women
    • transition
    • wall murals

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Women on the walls: Representations of women in political murals in Northern Ireland'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this