Gender Washing War: Arms Manufacturers and the Hijacking of #InternationalWomensDay

Abstract

If asked what “arms manufacturer” first brings to mind, few people would likely answer “women’s rights.” And yet, each International Women’s Day (IWD), leading global arms manufacturers present themselves as working to help bring about gender equality. “Gender washing” refers to corporate social responsibility communications aimed at presenting a corporation as empowering to women and girls, even while their own products, supply chains, or employment practices harm them. In this article, we show how arms manufacturers use social media communications about IWD to gender wash their images, positioning themselves as progressive and caring. Bringing into conversation feminist work in Security Studies and International Political Economy, we identify new varieties of gender washing specific to war and martial violence: client military and government partnerships, and constructive silence. We also expand the global hierarchy of publics targeted by gender washing communications, reflecting the fact that unlike other transnational corporations, arms manufacturers are not concerned with garnering “brand loyalty” amongst the general public. Rather, they communicate both to and with Global North governments and militaries. Thus, what is at stake in these representations, we argue, is not simply the reputation of the individual corporations concerned, but a broader process of gender washing war.