This study of women associated by work or by partnership to American defense industries, examines... more This study of women associated by work or by partnership to American defense industries, examines the ways that militarism works in and around the lives of those who live and work in proximity to highly militarized sites.Militarism simultaneously imposes and is dependent upon certain constructions of gender for sustenance. Within these particular constructions, men should be strong, protective, and eager for war. Women on the other hand should be nurturing, in need of protection and peace-loving. The participants in this study adhere discursively to these particular constructions, their lived practices of gender however, are in tension and sometimes contradiction with the gender constructs on which militarism relies.While militarism is popularly believed to be about men and male paradigms, in fact militarism could not exist without the labor, both paid and unpaid, and allegiance of women. Women's work both in the home and in the workplace makes the production of weapons possible...
Women around the world, in various geographic spaces, social and cultural contexts, as partners, ... more Women around the world, in various geographic spaces, social and cultural contexts, as partners, wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, mourners, and victims experience war. Women's experience of war and their participation in it, either as actors or resistors, victims or perpetrators (Moser and Clark 2001), cheerleaders or critics, are always influenced by the construction of gender operating in and around their lives. While constructions of masculinity and femininity are always circulating in and around militarism and war, women's bodies are sometimes primary considerations for military and state leaders; this creates a visibility/invisibility/ hyper-visibility problem for women in wartime. In this essay, women's participation in war as soldiers, refugees, prisoners, jailers, activists, and suicide bombers and the accompanying shift in the practice of femininity and masculinity is explored. Sometimes it looks like women are becoming more like men; if being militarized is the same as being masculinized. But I think similarity is not what is simply happening here but rather that the constructions of gender are being more fully diversified and essentialized simultaneously (Eisenstein 2007, 2). Gender discourses remain constitutive of our understanding and knowledge of war. These discourses are so tightly imbricated in and replete with other discourses-sexuality, religion, imperialism, torture, race, rape, visibility, and targeting-that we do ourselves a disservice if we hold to the possibilities of untangling them in their entirety (Kinsella 2007, 227). Women around the world, in various geographic spaces, social and cultural contexts, as partners, wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, mourners, and victims experience war. Their experiences of war and their participation in it, either as actors or resistors, victims or perpetrators (Moser and Clark 2001), cheerleaders or critics, are always influenced, not only by race, class, sexuality, ability, and nation but by the construction of gender operating in and around their lives. Cultural norms about gender have a profound impact on how women are regarded in relation to war, what they are expected to do, and the strength of the repercussions suffered for acting outside the accepted gender boundaries within particular spaces.
Public protest against the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1 was only part of the story of US American w... more Public protest against the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1 was only part of the story of US American women's resistance to war in general and to that war specifically. Although the gendering of war is seldom discussed outside feminist scholarship, the events of 11 September 2001 and its aftermath as well as all events and processes having to do with war are gendered events and processes. Both women and men participate in war in various ways, some of which, particularly in the case of women, are either not noticed, are deliberately ignored or made invisible. In this essay, the stories of some women who protested the Persian Gulf War are represented alongside questions that their narratives prompted about what constitutes anti-war work, and what the ramifications of such work are in the present international context.
This study of women associated by work or by partnership to American defense industries, examines... more This study of women associated by work or by partnership to American defense industries, examines the ways that militarism works in and around the lives of those who live and work in proximity to highly militarized sites.Militarism simultaneously imposes and is dependent upon certain constructions of gender for sustenance. Within these particular constructions, men should be strong, protective, and eager for war. Women on the other hand should be nurturing, in need of protection and peace-loving. The participants in this study adhere discursively to these particular constructions, their lived practices of gender however, are in tension and sometimes contradiction with the gender constructs on which militarism relies.While militarism is popularly believed to be about men and male paradigms, in fact militarism could not exist without the labor, both paid and unpaid, and allegiance of women. Women's work both in the home and in the workplace makes the production of weapons possible...
Women around the world, in various geographic spaces, social and cultural contexts, as partners, ... more Women around the world, in various geographic spaces, social and cultural contexts, as partners, wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, mourners, and victims experience war. Women's experience of war and their participation in it, either as actors or resistors, victims or perpetrators (Moser and Clark 2001), cheerleaders or critics, are always influenced by the construction of gender operating in and around their lives. While constructions of masculinity and femininity are always circulating in and around militarism and war, women's bodies are sometimes primary considerations for military and state leaders; this creates a visibility/invisibility/ hyper-visibility problem for women in wartime. In this essay, women's participation in war as soldiers, refugees, prisoners, jailers, activists, and suicide bombers and the accompanying shift in the practice of femininity and masculinity is explored. Sometimes it looks like women are becoming more like men; if being militarized is the same as being masculinized. But I think similarity is not what is simply happening here but rather that the constructions of gender are being more fully diversified and essentialized simultaneously (Eisenstein 2007, 2). Gender discourses remain constitutive of our understanding and knowledge of war. These discourses are so tightly imbricated in and replete with other discourses-sexuality, religion, imperialism, torture, race, rape, visibility, and targeting-that we do ourselves a disservice if we hold to the possibilities of untangling them in their entirety (Kinsella 2007, 227). Women around the world, in various geographic spaces, social and cultural contexts, as partners, wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, mourners, and victims experience war. Their experiences of war and their participation in it, either as actors or resistors, victims or perpetrators (Moser and Clark 2001), cheerleaders or critics, are always influenced, not only by race, class, sexuality, ability, and nation but by the construction of gender operating in and around their lives. Cultural norms about gender have a profound impact on how women are regarded in relation to war, what they are expected to do, and the strength of the repercussions suffered for acting outside the accepted gender boundaries within particular spaces.
Public protest against the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1 was only part of the story of US American w... more Public protest against the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1 was only part of the story of US American women's resistance to war in general and to that war specifically. Although the gendering of war is seldom discussed outside feminist scholarship, the events of 11 September 2001 and its aftermath as well as all events and processes having to do with war are gendered events and processes. Both women and men participate in war in various ways, some of which, particularly in the case of women, are either not noticed, are deliberately ignored or made invisible. In this essay, the stories of some women who protested the Persian Gulf War are represented alongside questions that their narratives prompted about what constitutes anti-war work, and what the ramifications of such work are in the present international context.
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