Do Violent Women Betray Stereotypes?
By Jacquelyn Wright November 14, 2008 Dr. Laura Sjoberg recalled seeing a cover of the Los Angeles Times with a picture of the Abu Gharib prison torture and abuse scandal in Iraq. Her reaction? She was surprised to see a woman engaging in the violence. The Women’s Center and Women’s Studies program invited Sjoberg give her lecture “Women’s Violence in Global Politics,” in Torgersen 3100 Thursday night, where admission was free and doors were open to all. It was the last part in a series of lectures called “Through Feminist Eyes,” put on by the Women’s Center to bring in a variety of speakers on many different women’s issues and achievements. Barbara Ellen Smith, the director of Women’s Studies, gave Sjoberg’s introduction. Soon after, the lights were dimmed, a huge projector screen was lit up on the wall, and the crowd grew silent. “Women are not supposed to be violent,” Sjoberg told the audience of students and Blacksburg residents. She said violent women betray the stereotypes of wha
