A Good Soldier and a Good Mother: New Conditions and New Roles in the Nagorno-Karabakh War

Pro-life vs. pro-choice in a resurgent nation: The case of post-Soviet Armenia

“…As some authors note, the role of mother quickly started to be praised as sacred, as Armenian mothers were called upon to revive the nation after centuries of colonization and abuse. During the times of crisis, women were involved in the nationalist movement in the late 1980s and Karabakh war in the 1990s; they fought in the war and assisted the war effort in multiple ways (Shahnazarian, 2016). Beukian shows that in the aftermath of the nationalist movement of 1988 and the war in Karabakh, "the role of women shifted from protestors, soldiers, and martyrs, to home-carers, housewives, and mothers" (Beukian, 2014, p. 248) However, the sacralization of women puts them in a passive role as reproducers of the country, transmitters of culture to the younger generation, guardians of the nation's health (Beukian, 2014, p. 253).…”

“…Beukian shows that in the aftermath of the nationalist movement of 1988 and the war in Karabakh, "the role of women shifted from protestors, soldiers, and martyrs, to home-carers, housewives, and mothers" (Beukian, 2014, p. 248) However, the sacralization of women puts them in a passive role as reproducers of the country, transmitters of culture to the younger generation, guardians of the nation's health (Beukian, 2014, p. 253). Their agency and active participation in democratic movements for independence and in the war have been largely ignored by the national ideology and public discourse (Shahnazarian, 2016).…”