Traditions and Transitions: Perceptions of 'Good Womanhood' Among Twenty Bosnian Focus Group Participants

What does it mean to be a good woman and girl, and what does this mean in a country which has been ravaged by war and extreme violence? Which norms and values are embedded in conceptualization of 'good womanhood', and how are these values constructed within different sociopolitical contexts? This article attempts to examine perceptions of 'good womanhood' from the perspectives of six different focus groups in Bosnia. The focus group interviews took place in 2002 and the focus group participants were asked to discuss how gender relations might have changed since before the war of 1992-5, during and after the war.