Female Fighters: We Won't Stand For Male Dominance

By: Brett Hulett

This article discusses a military unit in the mountains of Iraq comprised solely o women. Known as the PKK, this group patrols the Qandil Mountains, raiding various Turkish establishments. The group claims that its sole purpose is to fight for a world of equality--one without pressures and one which revolves around women. The group appears to have very idealistic ideas of how the world should be; they claim they are looking to do nothing other than change people's ideas and get rid of the "slavery still imposed on women in society." However, many other groups, including several nations, see the group as nothing more than a terrorist group. After reading the article, I tend to agree with these feelings that lead towards terrorism. The group numbers in the thousands, all carrying guns and grenades. And while the leaders of the group claim they are hoping to come to political and diplomatic conclusions in the near future, their actions speak otherwise. The last paragraph reads--"The armed struggle has brought few results. The PKK says it wants to shift to dialogue, but after renewed fighting, there seems to be little hope of that." If these women are really looking for a way to move up in society, why would they choose to do so through violence? And now they claim they are looking to move away from the violence, but they continue to contradict these claims. To me, this just doesn't seem to be the way to go about change, especially if they are claiming that women would be "less violent and more level-headed" than their male leaders.