Militarized Masculinity: Gender Narratives Among Armed Resistance Groups in Myanmar

The Spring Revolution responding to Myanmar’s 2021 military coup is often seen as a transformative moment for women. Opposition leaders spoke of dismantling all militarized behaviours driving oppression, inequality and injustice. And when the regime cracked down on peaceful protesters, young women took up roles in armed resistance groups.

Within months, however, women reported that the toxic narratives associated with the military regime were appearing inside the resistance movement. Online and off, they pointed to evidence of these aggressive narratives, sexualized acts, and reinforcement of discriminatory norms.

Based on interviews and 16,444 Facebook posts, Kyal Sin Thukha and Zin Mar Phyo investigate evolving narratives within Myanmar’s armed resistance. They explore their impacts on group members and efforts to push back from within. And their recommendations to revolution stakeholders are a call for stronger institutional accountability in promoting more positive narratives.

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This study is part of the Myanmar Digital Research series published by Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) with support from International Development Research Centre and The SecDev Foundation.