THEME 2 | Allegorization of Women

After thorough analysis of the portraits of IS fighters, I explore the representation of women and observe a lack of female identity in the visuals addressing them in Rumiyah, and instead, these visuals are of nature, the Qur'an, praying carpet, money and jewelry that should be donated for jihad, house objects, or arabesque. These elements reinforce the message of each article by associating them with the expected behavior of women to construct the ideal Muslim women in the caliphate suggesting their purification and their dependence on their male guardians. Therefore, the second theme could be characterized as: Allegorization of Women. The visuals complement the ideological constructs and beliefs of the group towards women, and so not representing women reinforces their subordination manifested in the symbolic representation. Therefore, these elements and the photographs themselves become an allegorical representation of women.