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Zoora Shah: ‘An Unusual Woman’

Liverpool John Moores University, UK

Zoora Shah was convicted of murder after she poisoned and killed Mohammed Azam. Her appeal against her murder conviction (among others) was rejected by the Court of Appeal. This article provides a queer theory reading of the Court of Appeal’s judgment and argues that the court’s decision was based upon the construction of Zoora as an unintelligible gender. Drawing upon the work of Judith Butler, the article analyses the notion of gender as performativity and argues that Zoora’s construction as an unintelligible gender was due to her failure to conform to a number of gender and racial scripts. In particular, the article examines the court’s use of the term ‘unusual woman’ to describe Zoora and analyses how this labelling significantly contributed to her construction as an unintelligible gender. The article will argue that the construction of Zoora as an unintelligible gender prevented her from telling the ‘truth’ of her situation.

Key Words: diminished responsibility • gender performativity • hate speech • identity • Judith Butler • manslaughter • murder • provocation

Social & Legal Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2, 215-238 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0964663905051220


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