It's Our Military, Too!

Women and the U.S Military

Edited by Judith Hicks Stiehm
Book Cover

PB: $34.95
EAN: 978-1-56639-456-7
Publication: Sep 96

HC: $83.50
EAN: 978-1-56639-455-0
Publication: Sep 96

Ebook: $34.95
EAN: 978-1-4399-0147-2
Publication: Sep 96

352 pages
6 x 9
10 tables, 3 figs., 36 halftones

Women serve in, help finance, and give permission for the activities of this country's armed forces, yet those who serve remain unknown and those who are accountable often forget their responsibility

Read the Preface and About the Contributors (pdf).

Description

In the last twenty-five years the U.S. military has seen the abolition of women's separate corps, the appointment of women generals, and an unprecedented increase in the ratio of women to men. Also, women are now permitted to serve on combat planes and ships. Despite these developments, most civilians know very little about women in the military.

This collection includes unusual accounts by women on active duty, retired officers, women who have worked for the armed forces in a civilian capacity, and civilian academics. The book offers insights on a variety of pressing issues including minority women, lesbians, combat, the role of gender in weapons design, and the changing mission of the military.

Through personal accounts and commentaries, this book dispels many of the myths about women and the military and explores the reasons for the persistence of misconceptions in the face of increased female participation. This comprehensive effort will be of interest to anyone who wants to know the truth about women in the armed forces and will be a wake-up call to women who feel that the military is irrelevant to them.

Reviews

Read a review on H-Net, April 1999.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I: Voices and Facts Edited by Judith Hicks Stiehm1. Soldiering: The Enemy Doesn't Care If You're Female – Rhonda Cornum
2. Duty, Honor, Country: If You're Straight – Virginia Solms
3. The Creation of Army Officers and the Gender Lie: Betty Grable or Frankenstein? – Billie Mitchell
4. Just the Facts, Ma'am – Judith Hicks Stiehm

Part II: History and Issues
5. The Military Woman's Vanguard: Nurses – Connie L. Reeves
6. From Underrepresentation to Overrepresentation: African-American Women – Brenda L. Moore
7. Gender and Weapons Design – Nina Richman-Loo and Rachel Weber
8. Gender Ideology in the Ethics of Women in Combat – Lucinda Joy Peach
9. To Fight, to Defend, and to Preserve the Peace: The Evolution of the U.S. Military and the Role of Women within It – M. C. Devilbiss

Part III: Reflection and Speculation
10. Pernicious Cohesion – Carol Burke
11. Telling the War Story – Susan Jeffords
12. Subverting the Gender and Military Paradigms – Miriam Cooke
13. The Civilian Mind – Judith Hicks Stiehm

About the Contributors
Index

About the Author(s)

Judith Hicks Stiehm is visiting professor, Peacekeeping Institute, U.S. Army War College, and professor of political science, Florida International University.


Subjects

Philosophy and Ethics Philosophy and Ethics Philosophy and Ethics

In the Series

  • Women in the Political Economy edited by Ronnie J. Steinberg

    No longer active. Women in the Political Economy, edited by Ronnie J. Steinberg, includes books on women and issues of work, family, social movements, politics, feminism, and empowerment. It emphasizes women's roles in society and the social construction of gender and also explores current policy issues like comparable worth, international development, job training, and parental leave.