The Heroine: History of East-Timorese’s Female Resistance Fighters for Their Courage and Outstanding Achievements toward Self-Determination of Timor-Leste

Abstract

This article discusses the experiences of women’s roles in the history of public diplomacy and non-state actions that aimed to attained the right to self-determination of the people of Timor-Leste. That the shared perception of women’s participation in the national liberation movement was equal between men and women throughout on the diplomatic front becomes a reference reflects to the historical reality. Women’s roles in the Timor-Leste national resistance movement demonstrated their progress and modernity of women in contemporary society. History shows women represented human capital through their sentiments of nationalism, patriotism and the right to self-determination. Although the narrative and discourse about resistance movements abroad, "named Diplomatic Front" emphasizes more on the symbolic masculine. The dominance of this masculine symbol causes an imbalance of gender relations in the narrative and discourse on public Diplomatic affairs and non-state-actors toward the Self-determination of Timor-Leste. There are a series of extraordinary achievements in various actions done by the women. This study reveals that the women of Timor-Leste had a clear sense of purpose and belonging, strength, valuable importance, visibility, and responsiveness, being visible, and the competence to create gender balance in the narrative of the history of the Timorese people’s struggle and that of future nation building onward.