Peran Media dan Citra “Black Widows” Pejuang Perempuan Chechnya

Abstract

This article demonstrate how the New York Times constructed images ofChechen women rebels and to understand this process in relation to thelarger ideological process of negotiating femininity when representingviolent women, this research focus on news coverage about the conflictbetween Chechnya and Russia. The time frame begins in 1994, when thefirst Russo-Chechen War began, and ends in 2004, when Chechen militantsstaged their most recent high-profile attack at a school in Beslan, NorthOssetia, a republic in southern Russia. This article shows that the dominantideological message inherent in the coverage of Chechen women suggeststhat if women do break out of gender norms, the media will negotiate theiractions. Further, the media will attempt to ameliorate those actions withexplanations that remain consistent with femininity. This is precisely whatthe Times has done with Chechen women rebels and is also the case withmedia representations of violent women, tough women, and women ingeneral.