Myers’s article “Living and Fighting Alongside Men, and Fitting In” explains the role women increasingly have in active combat. Though male combatants still comprise the vast majority, females are beginning to be more fully integrated into the system. The military has had to change slightly to accommodate these additions. Women have separate sleeping quarters and need more privacy. This article argues that the benefit of females in active duty outweighs these costs.
Some more costs include hesitation by the native populations who are not used to interacting professionally with women in the military. Also, women continue to face increased sexual assault and harassment. Women can also get pregnant. In one of the videos that were coupled with this article, a female combatant said that sometimes women get pregnant intentionally because it means they will go home. However, this combatant’s answer to problems such as these was not to exclude women from the military; instead, she suggested that “discipline, maturity and professionalism” (2) were sufficient solutions.
Myers highlights that increased female participation in active units means that now women, as well as men, are trained to fight effectively. This empowers women in new ways.
Myers’s article, “A Peril in War Zones: Sexual Abuse by Fellow G.I.’s” focuses on the issue of sexual abuse in the military. Some experts think that this incidence of abuse is no higher than in the civilian population. The way the military is set up complicates reporting of abuse even more. When this article was written, the military had just undergone a revision in their policies towards sexual abuse. These enabled women and men to get counseling without pressing charges. It also made rape kits available to military medical units and provided a way for victims to report outside of the normal chain of command. This helps to alleviate some concerns about commanders ignoring the victim to preserve unity in their troops or to focus on other problems. This article describes the case of Captain White who was stalked and assaulted by a fellow combatant and former boyfriend. She did not report the attacks because of some of the issues mentioned above. It came out when the military investigated her assailant for other similar crimes.
What I found interesting about this article was the fact that adultery is considered a crime. I am curious about how they define adultery and what their reasoning is.
I found this website which speaks to this issue.
Here it outlines that in certain cases adultery is punishable when it negatively impacts the image or cohesion of the unit. You can be charged as either the married or unmarried individual but usually half of the married couple affected must also be serving.
Enloe’s chapter “Men in Militias, Women as Victims” examines the role of politicized masculinity in compelling men to commit atrocities in war. She uses the example of Borislav Herak who took part in the systematic and widespread rape of Muslim Bosnian women. Enloe argues that a feminist examination is necessary when looking at such crimes. Gender constructions make war possible. When the type of war is so heinous it is necessary to look at the type of masculinity and femininity that makes that possible. One possible problem with this article is Enloe’s focus on Herak’s pornography use. If this truly was a pathological addiction there may be more cause for it to be included. Otherwise, it implies that porn use itself is unhealthy; though I’m not a fan of porn many people do use it without some kind of pathos. This also connects Herak’s rape crimes to some kind of sexual frustration, which based on the interview she provides does not seem to be the case.
Enloe’s second chapter “Spoils of War” is very short but packed with interesting ideas. She contends that sexual crimes even when connected to politics must be treated as crimes against women not crimes against a country or a people. Though the later approach is also useful it can trivialize women’s experiences with oppression to a sterile non-gendered metaphor for oppression. This translates a woman’s issue into a political, aka male, one. Enloe also asserts that prostitution in other countries enjoyed by male soldiers may be not that different from rape since there is a huge power imbalance.
Steven Lee Myers, “A Peril in War Zones,” and “Living and Fighting Alongside Men,” New York Times and Cynthia Enloe, “All the Men are in the Militias, All the Women Are Victims” and “Spoils of War”
ReplyDeleteAccording to the article “A Peril in War Zones,” less than ten percent of sexual assaults and harassment are reported in the military. Captain Margret H. White’s recount of being harassed by an officer while training for deployment in Iraq is courageous. While the military has a “zero tolerance” policy for abuse, many female soldiers have the fear of “harming the mission.” Interestingly, these women weigh the mission above their own safety and happiness; it is like they are trapped in a birdcage. Moreover, various factors constrain or immobilize these women from taking action. One example would be “because the rigidity of the military chain of command can make accusation uncomfortable and even risky for victims living in close quarters with the men they accuse”(Myers). Sexual abuse and harassment in the military is a common occurrence; as exemplified in the Tailhook scandal, in which American aircraft carrier pilots stripped female military officers of their clothing at an annual Las Vegas meeting. The author of “All the Men are in the Militias, All the Women Are Victims“ explains that these “‘tailhookers’” were not just a particular breed; the social context needs to be examined on a macro-level scale. We often write off horrific incidents, like teenagers who commit mass murder, as rare occurrences done by psychologically unstable individuals without ever looking at the bigger picture.
Steven Lee Myers, "A Peril in War Zones: Sexual Abuse by Fellow G.I.'s" talks about sexual harassment and abuse that occurs in the military. There are tens of thousands of women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and so naturally there have been issues with sexual assault and harassment. With that number of women serving and the amount of men who are in the military it is not surprising that there are cases of sexual assault. Myers talks about how some of this abuse is a function of loneliness and boredom. This is all very interesting but the most interesting part about the article was the discussion about how women in the military are scared to come forward about their cases on sexual assault. He explains that the reason for this is because most women who are victims believe that 1, their case will not hold up because it is a case of he-said-she-said and 2, that their individual case of sexual assault is far inferior in the scheme of things considering they are fighting in a war. The reason this is so intriguing is because women in civilization also worry about coming forward about their cases of sexual abuse. The fear felt by these women is immense and to imagine the fear that women in the military must feel must be outrageous. While the government has tightened up on this issue, it is not about the repercussions that the sexual offenders will face, it is whether or not cases of sexual assault will even make it to court because of the fear in the victims. Captain White said that although she was feeling despondent and was suffering panic attacks she was still reluctant to come forward because she didn't want to disturb the mission in any way. While I understand why it is hard for women in civilization to come forward about sexual assault, after hearing the story of Captain White, I truly understand why women in the military would be reluctant to come forward about their cases of sexual assault. The guilt that they would feel if they started a problem in their platoon would be great. I would never encourage women not to come forward for this reason but I can certainly understand why they would be reluctant. Regardless of how strict the government makes the sexual assault laws within the military, I can not imagine women will begin coming forward regardless.
ReplyDeleteMyers’s article “Living and Fighting Alongside Men, and Fitting In” talks about the advantages and disadvantages to having women in the military. While it is clear that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, Myers brings up a couple of interesting points. The point that he brings up about having to have separate quarters and such for men and women, in my opinion is almost meaningless. This is a very small disadvantage that can easily be looked passed. Another point that he brings up that is a little more valid is the issue of women becoming pregnant. He talks about how it is rumored that some women will purposely get pregnant in order to be sent home. While this is dishonorable, this is not an argument against women being in the military because if the women who are getting out of battle by becoming pregnant were not allowed to be in the military, they wouldn't be able to help the cause anyway. Therefore the countless brave women who are serving alongside men, far outweigh the few who are purposely getting pregnant and going home.
Enloe's chapters are about wartime atrocities involving the raping of women in countries involved in war. As April points out, she argues that these crimes must be looked at as a crime against women and not only a crime against a particular country. I think that this goes without saying. If heinous crimes such as the raping of women during wartime are umbrellaed under other, less heinous wartime crimes, the larger issue of rape and the rights of women are forgotten. This is obviously unacceptable. Crimes like this, no matter what the setting, need to be addressed as women's issues and not only wartime issues.