Camouflage Isn't Only for Combat: Gender, Sexuality, and Women in the Military

by Melissa S Herbert

Overview

Reveals the different ways women navigate the traditionally masculine environment of the military

Drawing on surveys and interviews with almost 300 female military personnel, Melissa Herbert explores how women's everyday actions, such as choice of uniform, hobby, or social activity, involve the creation and re-creation of what it means to be a woman, and particularly a woman soldier. Do women feel pressured to be "more masculine," to convey that they are not a threat to men's jobs or status and to avoid being perceived as lesbians? She also examines the role of gender and sexuality in the maintenance of the male-defined military institution, proposing that, more than sexual harassment or individual discrimination, it is the military's masculine ideology--which views military service as the domain of men and as a mechanism for the achievement of manhood--which serves to limit women's participation in the military has increased dramatically.

In the wake of armed conflict involving female military personnel and several sexual misconduct scandals, much attention has focused on what life is like for women in the armed services. Few, however, have examined how these women negotiate an environment that has been structured and defined as masculine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814737385
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	218
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

MELISSA S. HERBERT is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hamline University in Minnesota.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
1.	Introduction	1
2.	Amazons and Butterflies: Gender and the Military	26
3.	Dykes or Whores: Sexuality and the Military	55
4.	Camouflage Isn't Only for Combat	81
5.	Doing Gender/Doing Sexuality	112
	Methodological Appendix	131
	Notes	187
	Bibliography	191
	Index	201
	About the Author	205

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Seen through Herbert's sharply focused analytical lens, the military is a socio-historical bastion of masculinity. Military service is a rite of passage into masculinity, a sort of 'finishing school' for men. In addition to questions of ability, women who join the service are suspected of gender transgressions. These management strategies reveal much about how the military controls gender and sexuality."

-Jodi O'Brien,,Seattle University

"Looks at how women in the armed forces deal with perceived conflicts between femininity and being a good soldier through active strategies that accentuate or play down perceptions of masculinity and femininity. . . . Goes a long way toward showing how this distorting pressure impedes the true integration of women and men."

-Choice,

"Working with interview data and with 285 surveys completed by veterans and active-duty personnel, Herbert shows how military women often adjust their language, dress, hairstyles, comportment, activities, and other characteristics in an effort to shape how they are perceived."

-The Chronicle of Higher Education,

"The book would serve as a valuable undergraduate text to introduce students to martial gender issues."

-Sexualities 4

Editorial Reviews

Draws on surveys with some 300 female military personnel to explore how women's everyday actions, such as choice of uniform, hobby, or social activity, involve the creation and re-creation of what it means to be a woman, and particularly a woman soldier. Examines pressure to conform to gender role expectations, how these pressures manifest themselves on a daily basis, and what strategies women employ to influence the way they are perceived. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"The book would serve as a valuable undergraduate text to introduce students to martial gender issues."

Sexualities 4

"Working with interview data and with 285 surveys completed by veterans and active-duty personnel, Herbert shows how military women often adjust their language, dress, hairstyles, comportment, activities, and other characteristics in an effort to shape how they are perceived."

The Chronicle of Higher Education

"Seen through Herbert's sharply focused analytical lens, the military is a socio-historical bastion of masculinity. Military service is a rite of passage into masculinity, a sort of ‘finishing school' for men. In addition to questions of ability, women who join the service are suspected of gender transgressions. These management strategies reveal much about how the military controls gender and sexuality."

Jodi O'Brien

"Seen through Herbert's sharply focused analytical lens, the military is a socio-historical bastion of masculinity. Military service is a rite of passage into masculinity, a sort of ‘finishing school' for men. In addition to questions of ability, women who join the service are suspected of gender transgressions. These management strategies reveal much about how the military controls gender and sexuality."

-Jodi O'Brien,,Seattle University

"Working with interview data and with 285 surveys completed by veterans and active-duty personnel, Herbert shows how military women often adjust their language, dress, hairstyles, comportment, activities, and other characteristics in an effort to shape how they are perceived."

- The Chronicle of Higher Education

"The book would serve as a valuable undergraduate text to introduce students to martial gender issues."

- Sexualities 4

"Looks at how women in the armed forces deal with perceived conflicts between femininity and being a good soldier through active strategies that accentuate or play down perceptions of masculinity and femininity. . . . Goes a long way toward showing how this distorting pressure impedes the true integration of women and men."

- Choice

From the Publisher