October Blog Post

“Being a female soldier is always being trouble. Being a female solider is making sure not to cause trouble; to be the girl that ruins everything. Being a female solider is a built in assumption of many that you could not have done what a man has done and you could not possibly have given the same that a man gave,” (Hicks, 2011). This passage illustrates the struggle of a female solider in the military. In Dr. Hicks’ prose poetry, she explains how men view women in the military. Female soldiers are trouble, burdens, and the victim. Women in the military are marginalized and oppressed and have been treated as such since the beginning.

Before this semester I didn’t have much knowledge when it came to how women were viewed in the military. But through class discussion and readings, it became clear that women are not on the same playing field as men. This surprised me, because clearly after all of these years women and men in the military should be treated equally, right? Unfortunately this isn’t the case.

The military was originally created for white straight male soldiers, and once women were allowed to join the military, the men didn’t know what to do with them. Women were placed in roles such as cooks, secretary’s, nurses and other roles that are associated with women so they could avoid going into combat and perpetuate gender roles (Prividera & Howard, 2006). Men viewed women in the military as trouble. They were bound to get themselves captured and men would feel obligated to save a woman who got herself in trouble rather than help their other fellow soldiers. Due to this mindset, the media has also followed suit.

In 2003, Private Jessica Lynch was captured by Iraqi soldiers. After a week of being held hostage, she was rescued by a Special Ops team. During her capture the media continually referenced her small frame, her young age, her gender and her family and continually mentioned her rank as Private as an afterthought. She was represented as a fragile being, her worth being put into her femininity rather than her being a solider. Meanwhile, male soldiers were being represented as heroes, taking great care to mention their rank and strength. When she was rescued, the Special Ops team called out to her, “Jessica Lynch, were United States soldiers and were here to protect you and take you home,” and she responded “I’m an American solider too,” (Howard & Prividera, 2004). It’s as if these male soldiers forget that she too was a solider. By needing to be rescued she was fulfilling her role as a women, and her role as a solider was taken away from her. This all begs the question, if she was a man would they have said the same thing?

It is important for soldiers, civilians, and the media to realize that woman can be both woman and solider at the same time. A woman’s worth in the military is not measured by how she furthers a man’s heroic image. A female solider deserves to be treated and viewed with the same respect and opportunities as any other solider.

Sources

1. Hicks, Manda V. (2011). Making my narrative mine: Unconventional articulations of a female  solider. Qualitative Inquiry 17(5) 461- 465.                                                                                           
2.  Howard, J. W., III, & Prividera, L. C. (2004). Rescuing patriarchy or saving “Jessica Lynch”: The rhetorical construction of the American woman soldier. Women and Language, 27(2), 89-97.                                                                                                                                                     
3. Prividera, L. C. & Howard, J. W., 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), 29-37.