Emma Barnett writes that we need to stop pitying the young women joining the Islamic State.
From the Telegraphy:
And yet people insist upon dismissing these girls as victims – bestowing them with pity instead of the anger and scorn that is lavished upon the young Western men joining Isil.
Last month, Barnett wrote another piece in which she characterized the women as marginalized people seeking acceptance in the face of an oppressive Western system. It seems at odds with her latest piece, which suggests that the women of ISIS/ISIL deserve anger and scorn.
Barnett re-tweeted a critic, Tom Chivers of Buzzfeed, who says that all young people joining ISIS are victims.
disagree with @Emmabarnett here: defo think of Isis girls as victims http://t.co/R19CIh4Fcf but any 15yo boys who join Isis are victims too
— Tom Chivers (@TomChivers) February 23, 2015
What do you think? Is a smart 16 year old being rational when they flee their family to join a terrorist group? How can we make a society where these young people feel acceptance and inclusion? Can you empathize with these young people without seeing them as lacking agency?
Posted by David Streever