(S)he Shall Not Be Moved: Gender, Bodies, and Travel Rights in the Post-9/11 Era

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Using examples from the gendered targeting of airport security assemblages post-9/11, this article points out that the travelable body is straight; healthy; identifiable in sex, gender and race; not clearly religious; and, depending on where it is in the world, of a particular race and/or ethnicity. This article looks at the securitized production of the travelable body through gender lenses. It reads several key changes in people’s rights to movement as gendered, as significant and as signifying fundamental changes in (gendered) security orders. Particularly, building on Cynthia Enloe’s use of the idea of secure states containing insecure women to critique both the actual security of the state and women’s position in it, this article makes the argument that the gendered violations of people’s rights to movement and bodily integrity post-9/11 is a step backwards both for human security within the state and for the national security of the state.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)198-215
Number of pages18
JournalSecurity Journal
Volume28
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Apr 2015

Keywords

  • sex
  • gender
  • sexuality
  • embodiment
  • airports
  • movement
  • travel
  • terrorism
  • security
  • international relations
  • feminist IR

Cite this