Hair cutting as resistance: Gazan women and the failures of global feminism

This article employs socio-cultural theories to analyse the psycho-social effects of Gazan women cutting their hair during the2023–2024 Gazacide. The severe conditions in Gaza, exacerbatedby a lack of sanitation and essential resources due to the ongoingblockade, have forced women into extreme precarity. This has ledto the compulsory act of hair-cutting as a measure for diseaseprevention. The act of cutting hair, which disrupts a universallyrecognised symbol of beauty and health, highlights the broadersocio-political crisis. The paper critiques Western feminism for itsselective empathy, noting its neglect of Gazan women’s sufferingwhile focusing on issues pertinent to Western contexts. By framinghair-cutting not as individual psychological distress but asa response to aggravated socio-political conditions, the articleunderscores how this act reflects the broader dehumanisation andsuffering imposed by the ongoing genocide. (PDF) Hair Cutting as Resistance: Gazan Women and the Failures of Global Feminism. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386071645_Hair_Cutting_as_Resistance_Gazan_Women_and_the_Failures_of_Global_Feminism [accessed Nov 29 2024].