Skip to content
Guest Thinkers —

The Female Terrorist

It can be shocking to hear stories about female terrorists like the Russian “black widows” and America’s “Jihad Jane” — particularly because women so rarely turn to violence.
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

It can be shocking to hear stories about female terrorists like the Russian “black widows” and America’s “Jihad Jane” — particularly because women so rarely turn to violence. “We often turn our backs to the possibility that women could commit such hideous acts of violence,” says Northeastern University criminologist Jack Levin. “We don’t expect women to open fire … and statistically they don’t.” As a result, many terror organizations have tried to use that element of surprise to their advantage.

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.
Related
Culture & Religion
The Shock of the New (and Old): The Whitney Museum’s New Home
With the May 1st grand opening to the public of its new building in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, the Whitney Museum launches a new era not only in the New York City art scene, but also, possibly, in the very world of museums. Thanks to a Renzo Piano-designed new building built, as Whitney Director Adam D. Weinberg put it, “from the inside out” to serve the interests of the art and the patrons first, the new Whitney and its classic collection of American art stretching back to 1900 has drawn excited raves and exasperated rants from critics. Their inaugural exhibition, America Is Hard to See, gathers together long-loved classic works with rarely seen newcomers to create a paradox of old and new to mirror the many paradoxes of the American history the art embodies and critiques by turns. This shock of the new (and old) is the must-see art event of the year.
Up Next
Surprising Science
Tech Luddites
“Those who think of themselves as great fans of progress, of technology’s inexorable march forward, will change their tune as soon as progress destroys something they care deeply about,” writes Nicholas Carr.