This article employs socio-cultural theories to analyse the psychosocial effects of Gazan women cutting their hair during the 2023–2024 Gazacide. The severe conditions in Gaza, exacerbated by a lack of sanitation and essential resources due to the ongoing blockade, have forced women into extreme precarity. This has led to the compulsory act of hair-cutting as a measure for disease prevention. The act of cutting hair, which disrupts a universally recognised symbol of beauty and health, highlights the broader socio-political crisis. The paper critiques Western feminism for its selective empathy, noting its neglect of Gazan women's suffering while focusing on issues pertinent to Western contexts. By framing hair-cutting not as individual psychological distress but as a response to aggravated socio-political conditions, the article underscores how this act reflects the broader dehumanisation and suffering imposed by the ongoing genocide.

Bilal Hamamra

Noor Alzaghal

Ayman Mleitat

Guido Veronese

Journal for Cultural Research

JouJournal for Cultural Research is an international journal, based in Lancaster University"s Institute for Cultural Research. It is interested in essays concerned with the conjuncture between culture and the many domains and practices in relation to which it is usually defined, including, for example, media, politics, technology, economics, society, art and the sacred.     Culture is no longer, if it ever was, singular. It denotes a shifting multiplicity of signifying practices and value systems that provide a potentially infinite resource of academic critique, investigation and ethnographic or market research into cultural difference, cultural autonomy, cultural emancipation and the cultural aspects of power.

The Journal for Cultural Research is an international journal based at Lancaster University's Institute for Cultural Research. It focuses on essays that explore the intersection of culture with various domains and practices, such as media, politics, technology, economics, society, art, and the sacred. Culture is no longer, if it ever was, singular; it signifies a shifting multiplicity of signifying practices and value systems that offer a potentially infinite resource for academic critique, investigation, and ethnographic or market research into cultural difference, cultural autonomy, cultural emancipation, and the cultural aspects of power.

《Journal for Cultural Research》是一本国际期刊，隶属于兰卡斯特大学文化研究所。该期刊关注文化与其通常定义的多个领域和实践之间的关系，包括媒体、政治、技术、经济、社会、艺术和神圣等方面。文化不再是单一的，它代表了一种不断变化的多重符号实践和价值体系，为学术批评、调查以及对文化差异、文化自主、文化解放和权力文化方面的市场研究提供了潜在的无限资源。

Hair cutting as resistance: Gazan women and the failures of global feminism

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
CULTURAL STUDIES	1