Carreiras / Kümmel Women in the Military and in Armed Conflict

1. Auflage 2008
ISBN: 978-3-531-90935-6
Verlag: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Schriftenreihe des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Instituts der Bundeswehr

The debate about the role of women in war, violent conflict and the military is not only a long and ongoing one; it is also a heated and controversial one. The contributions to this anthology come from experts in the field who approach the topic from various angles thus offering different and, at times, diverging perspectives. The reader will therefore gain in-depth insight into the most important aspects and positions in the debate.

Dr. Gerhard Kümmel is Senior Researcher at the Bundeswehr Institute of Social Research (SOWI).

Dr. Helena Carreiras is Assistant Professor at ISCTE of Lisbon University.

Zielgruppe

Professional/practitioner

Autoren/Hrsg.

Carreiras, Helena

Kümmel, Gerhard

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Table of Contents;7
2;Foreword;8
3;Women in Combat: Reconsidering the Case Against the Deployment of Women in Combat- Support and Combat Units ;10
4;Off Limits: The Cults of the Body and Social Homogeneity as Discoursive Weapons Targeting Gender Integration in the Military;30
5;Unsung Heroes: Women's Contributions in the Military and Why Their Song Goes Unsung ;50
6;About Intervening in Vulnerable Societies: Gender in Military Peacekeeping of the Bundeswehr ;64
7;Women in the Netherlands Armed Forces ;82
8;Defying the Prohibited Arena: Women in the UAE Military ;130
9;From Loyalty to Dissent: How Military Women Respond to Integration Dilemmas ;162
10;Chivalry in the Military;184
11;The Militarization of Gender and Sexuality in the Iraq War ;202
12;Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones ;228
13;About the Authors;240

Women in Combat: Reconsidering the Case Against the Deployment of Women in Combat-Support and Combat Units.- Off Limits: The Cults of the Body and Social Homogeneity as Discoursive Weapons Targeting Gender Integration in the Military.- Unsung Heroes: Women’s Contributions in the Military and Why Their Song Goes Unsung.- About Intervening in Vulnerable Societies: Gender in Military Peacekeeping of the Bundeswehr.- Women in the Netherlands Armed Forces.- Defying the Prohibited Arena: Women in the UAE Military.- From Loyalty to Dissent: How Military Women Respond to Integration Dilemmas.- Chivalry in the Military.- The Militarization of Gender and Sexuality in the Iraq War.- Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones.

Leseproben

From Loyalty to Dissent: How Military Women Respond to Integration Dilemmas Helena Carreiras (S. 161-162)

1 Introduction

By the beginning of the 2V century, despite a considerable heterogeneity regarding integration policies, all NATO countries had admitted and increased the number of women in their armed forces. During the past three decades various restrictions have been lifted, women have been progressively allowed to enter military academies and given access to a wider variety of positions and functions. In 2000, around 280,000 women were serving in NATO forces.

The factors that induced these convergence effects derive from some global sociological trends affecting most Western countries, albeit with diverse rhythms and degrees: increasing pressure for gender equity and changes in the military towards force reduction and professionalization. The growing number and diversification of women`s military roles can be seen as both a symptom of and one of the most visible consequences of change in the armed forces. There is, however, the reverse side of the medal. Despite the tendency to eliminate discrimination and equalize status between service members, occupational restrictions still exist and women are largely excluded from many combat-related areas and functions.

They have limited representation in higher hierarchical posts and power positions within the military system. They are not always readily accepted, but often have to face hostile reactions. Empirical data show that even when formal/legal integration has been accomplished, effective social integration has not necessarily followed (Winslow/ Dunn 2002). In addition, progress made in the past has not always followed a linear pattern. Women`s military participation has been subject to cycles of expansion and contraction (Segal 1999), and tendencies to reinstate exclusionary policies have been observed.

In this paper I address the question of gender integration in the armed forces, focusing on the problems faced by military women and on the integration strategies they develop. After discussing the issue from a theoretical point of view, making resort to contributions in the area of gender and organizations, among them those of Kanter (1977) and Yoder (1983, 1991), the paper carries out an empirical analysis of the way how military women rationalize their experience, namely in terms of the obstacles and hardships they face, and proposes a typology of integration strategies. This analysis is supported by nearly three dozen interviews with female officers in the Portuguese and Dutch armed forces, conducted in 2000 within a broader comparative research project on policies of gender integration in the armed forces.

2 Gender Relations in Organizations

In a case study of an American corporation in the mid-1970s, Rosabeth Moss Kanter stressed the importance of organizational dynamics and structural features to account for people`s responses. She identified three major factors that condition work behavior: structure of opportunity, power and relative numbers. The third element in the model, relative numbers, is probably the most tested and discussed component of the whole theory. It refers to the proportions and social composition of people in similar situations, that is, the relevant social types in various parts of the organization (e.g., women, blacks, and other ethnic minorities). The basic assumption here is that numerical distribution has a major influence on the social experiences of the group. In Kanter`s case study, women were found in extremely low numbers among male peers, a situation that created strikingly different interaction contexts for men and women.

Über Autor(innen)

Dr. Gerhard Kümmel is Senior Researcher at the Bundeswehr Institute of Social Research (SOWI).

Dr. Helena Carreiras is Assistant Professor at ISCTE of Lisbon University.