United States of America

Citation:

Prividera, Laura C., and John W. Howard III. 2006. "Masculinity, Whiteness, and the Warrior Hero: Perpetuating the Strategic Rhetoric of U.S. Nationalism and the Marginalization of Women." Women and Language 29 (2).

Authors: Laura C. Prividera, John W. Howard III

Abstract:

In this research we employed gender archetypes and critical whiteness studies to examine the interconnectedness of gender, race, and nationalism in U.S. media coverage of the 507th Ordinance Maintenance Company during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Our theoretical frame illustrates how the national ideology sanctions specific constructions of gender and race both in and out of the military. The nationally-preferred archetypal constructions (in particular the "warrior hero" archetype) framed media representations of Jessica Lynch, Lori Piestewa, and Shoshona Johnson. Our feminist rhetorical analysis reveals how the media portrayal of the soldiers of the 507th simultaneously privileges whiteness and marginalizes femininity through its extensive focus on Private Jessica Lynch. In addition, this study demonstrates how the overarching national ideology creates a complex social hierarchy of gender and race relative to the ideal (archetypal) national representative.

Topics: Gender, Women, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Hierarchies, Media, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Nationalism, Race Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2006

Citation:

Cohn, Carol. 2006. “Motives and Methods: Using Multi-Sited Ethnography to Study US National Security Discourses.” In Feminist Methodologies for International Relations, edited by Brooke A. Ackerly and Jacqui True, 91–107. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Author: Carol Cohn

Topics: Security Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2006

Citation:

Tétreault, Mary Ann. 2006. “The Sexual Politics of Abu Ghraib: Hegemony, Spectacle, and the Global War on Terror.” NWSA Journal 18 (3): 33–50.

Author: Mary Ann Tétreault

Abstract:

Revelations of the torture, murder, and maltreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came with sensational photographs of U.S. military personnel torturing Iraqi prisoners and forcing them to perform sexualized acts. Evidence of gross violations of international law, the photographs have been used by U.S. elites to construct a discourse not about war crimes but "prisoner abuse, " some referring to the activities recorded as analogous to fraternity hazing. In this essay, I argue that the photos reflect complex reactions to the attacks of September 11, 2001, including a need to assert U.S. global dominance by punishing those who are, in American eyes, an inferior oriental enemy. The photographs are analyzed in the context of orientalism in the U.S. chain of command, a phenomenon linked to what feminists call "the politics of the gaze" - the vulnerability of women and other subalterns to virtual as well as actual violation by those in positions of domination. They are compared to evidence of other rituals of violence, such as lynching, orchestrated by elites and imitated by popular-culture entrepreneurs. The sexual politics of Abu Ghraib includes the deployment of female figures to brand, scapegoat, and repair the damage from discovery of the photographs, thereby trivializing the policies and behaviors of U.S. officials and eliding the American public's responsibility for the continued U.S. failure to condemn, much less to halt, the torture carried out in their name.

Keywords: hegemony, Torture, war crimes, orientalism, pornography, rituals of violence

Topics: Combatants, Gender, Justice, War Crimes, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Torture, Sexual Torture Regions: MENA, Americas, North America, Asia, Middle East Countries: Iraq, United States of America

Year: 2006

Citation:

Howard III, John W., and Laura C. Prividera. 2004. “Rescuing Patriarchy or Saving ‘Jessica Lynch’: The Rhetorical Construction of the American Woman Soldier.” Women and Language 27 (2): 89–97.

Authors: John W. Howard III, Laura C. Prividera

Abstract:

Female soldiers are consistently challenged for their involvement in the military. They are excluded from combat roles and find it difficult to advance through the ranks (Carter, 1998). This challenge is perpetuated by media representations of female soldiers. Our research examines how media representations of female soldiers separate their feminine identity from their military identity. Specifically, we perform a feminist and critical rhetorical analysis of news stories on Private Jessica Lynch. First, we argue that the media reproduces traditional patriarchal roles for female and male soldiers. Next, we argue that Private Jessica Lynch was singled out for extensive media coverage because she could easily fit a submissive female archetype. Finally, we argue that Private Lynch's rescue is a rhetorical act to demonstrate U.S. Military prowess that encourages masculine constructions of warrior heroes. This demonstration aggravates the rift between the roles of "women" and "soldiers" in the U.S. Military and perpetuates the "female soldier" paradox.

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Feminisms, Gender, Femininity/ies, Media, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2004

Citation:

Nusair, Isis. 2008. “Gendered, Racialized And Sexualized Torture At Abu-Ghraib,” In Feminism and Wars: Confronting US Imperialism, edited by Mohanty and Riley, 179-93. London: Zed Books.

Author: Isis Nusair

Abstract:

This chapter examines the gendered, racialized and sexualized torture at Abu-Ghraib within the larger context of the 2003 U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, and torture and mistreatment of detainees in other parts of Iraq; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Afghanistan. [Nusair] argue[s] that what took place at Abu-Ghraib is not an exceptional and isolated case perpetrated by few bad apples but part of an Orientalist representation that aims to shame and sexually humiliate detainees and reinforce their difference as racially inferior Others. Within this phallocentric binary logic of opposition where the East is represented as backward and barbarian and the West as civilizing and modernizing the naturalness and for-granted authority to dominate the Other is established. It is within this framework that [Nusair] analyze[s] the connection between militarist hyper-sexuality, feminization, and racialization at Abu-Ghraib. In addition, [Nusair] analyze[s] the silence around the rape of women at Abu-Ghraib, and the unveiling and stripping naked of detainees as they relate to the larger system of domination currently at play in Iraq. [Nusair] conclude[s] by analyzing current modes of feminist resistance in Iraq and the strategies used by activists to shape their lives within this highly masculinized and militarized system of control. 

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militarism, Militarization, Race, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexuality, Torture, Sexual Torture Regions: MENA, Americas, Caribbean countries, North America, Asia, Middle East, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan, Cuba, Iraq, United States of America

Year: 2008

Citation:

Hillman, Elizabeth L. 2009. “Front and Center: Sexual Violence in U.S. Military Law.” Politics & Society 37 (1): 101–29. doi:10.1177/0032329208329753.

Author: Elizabeth L. Hillman

Abstract:

Military-on-military sexual violence—the type of sexual violence that most directly disrupts operations, harms personnel, and undermines recruiting—occurs with astonishing frequency. The U.S. military has responded with a campaign to prevent and punish military-on-military sex crimes. This campaign, however, has made little progress, partly because of U.S. military law, a special realm of criminal justice dominated by legal precedents involving sexual violence and racialized images. By promulgating images and narratives of sexual exploitation, violent sexuality, and female subordination, the military justice system has helped to sustain a legal culture that reifies the connection between sexual violence and authentic soldiering.

Keywords: sexual violence, military justice, legal culture, reform

Topics: Combatants, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Justice, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security Sector Reform, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2009

Citation:

Baker, Rachel B., and Marilyn S. Sommers. 2008. “Relationship of Genital Injuries and Age in Adolescent and Young Adult Rape Survivors.” Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing 37 (3): 282–89.

Authors: Rachel B. Baker, Marilyn S. Sommers

Abstract:

Objective : To examine the associations between age and genital injuries in adolescent and young adult women examined following rape.

Design & Setting : A retrospective review of 234 medical records from an emergency department sexual assault program. Sample : Women aged 14 to 29 years. Fifty percent of the sample was African American, 48% was White, and 2% was either Asian or an “ other ” race.

Main Outcome Measures : Genital injury was described by injury prevalence, frequency, and anatomical locations of injuries. Results : Overall genital injury prevalence was 62.8%. Younger age was not significantly associated with the presence or absence of genital injury. However, younger age was significantly associated with an increased number of genital injuries overall and to the thighs, labia minora, periurethral area, fossa navicularis, and vagina. Conclusion : These findings support the need for further research to determine if the current care provided to rape survivors is age appropriate.

Keywords: genital injury, rape, age, adolescents, young adults

Topics: Gender, Women, Girls, Health, Reproductive Health, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2008

Citation:

Enloe, Cynthia. 2000. Masculinity as a Foreign Policy Issue. Washington DC: Foreign Policy in Focus

Author: Cynthia Enloe

Topics: Gender, Masculinity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarization Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2000

Citation:

Jeffreys, Sheila. 2007. “Double Jeopardy: Women, the US Military and the War in Iraq.” Women’s Studies International Forum 30 (1): 16–25.

Author: Sheila Jeffreys

Abstract:

This article argues that women in the military are in double jeopardy. They face the danger of rape from their male colleagues as well as the ordinary dangers of being killed or wounded by the enemy. They are used to send messages from one masculine military to another in their very bodies. This is particularly clear in the case of Lynndie England and the Abu Ghraib tortures where her womanhood, and sexual use of her by her comrades, were used as weapons to humiliate Iraqi prisoners. This sexual violence from their own side is the result of the fact that militaries are founded upon an aggressive masculinity that is vital to enable warfare to continue. For this reason the argument that it is important from the point of view of equal opportunities for women to be in all areas of the military, including the frontline, falls down. If aggressive masculinity is the necessary foundation of the military rather than being an unfortunate hangover of patriarchy, then women cannot be equal in this institution. Women's organizations should not be using the language of women's rights in calling for the subjection of women to these forms of violence.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, Rape, SV against Women, Violence, Weapons /Arms Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2007