One of the Guys: Women as Aggressors and Torturers

The debate about women and torture has, until recently, focused on women as victims of violence. But when photographs were released from the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal, one featured Lynndie England holding a prisoner by a dog leash. Overnight, she became a symbol of women’s capacity to inflict pain and suffering-and soon, many in America were questioning why the infliction of violence has always been seen as inherently male. One of the Guys deals specifically with this issue.  In her foreword, Barbara Ehrenreich wonders why she once assumed women possessed an innate aversion to violence. Her essay then serves as a launching point for the rest of the contributors, which include academics, journalists, and activists, each grappling with women’s involvement in torture and the abuse of power. The essays in One of the Guys challenge and examine the expectations placed on women while attempting to understand female perpetrators of abuse and torture in a broader context.