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Our second group of writers will be blogging about Women and War. Journalists, experts, female soldiers and veterans share their experiences and discuss issues including women in combat, sexual assault in the military and inadequate benefits for female veterans. What do you think about women in the military? Share your thoughts, raise a question and join the conversation by leaving comments on the posts.
Of the films dealing with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, none had embraced the experiences of women soldiers head on. It was our good fortune to connect with the five Lioness soldiers from the 1st Engineer Battalion. Not only did they come to understand the historical value of narrating their experiences, they were keen to tell their stories so that Americans who had no personal connection to military might come to understand the experiences of those who serve in their name. read more »
We are drawn to stories exactly because we want to know what life is like for other people so we can learn more about ourselves and the world. The only catch is...we have to actually read them. We have to actually listen...A well-imagined book — nonfiction or fiction — can indeed make a non-combat soldier, or a civilian, know what it's like to face combat. It can indeed open the eyes of civilians enough to make them feel sympathy and compassion — even about combat, even about sexual assault, even about war trauma. read more »
The full citizenship of women is not just about the right to hold credit cards, buy real estate in our own names, have access to abortion and birth control, and lead openly lesbian lives in which marriages and adoptions are legally recognized. These things are important in themselves — terribly so, to the point of sometimes being matters of life and death, but what they represent is vastly more important. They are part of a woman's citizenship and freedom, the right of a woman to fully inhabit her own life and participate fully in the life of the polity (in this case the American Republic) as a public and private equal. read more »
I've learned a lot while writing these posts, more than I really thought I would have. I've had many discussions about women in the military over the years, but after participating in Women and War, I've had many more. Here are some final thoughts about our military, women soldiers and more. read more »
Servicewomen were and remain a very real avant-garde of a civic feminism that has no further need of hissy-fitting, the politics of victimization or the self-righteous expansion of organized feminism to include "other oppressed groups." The women in the military, many of them members of such oppressed groups, have, by their actions and participation in the military, taken responsibility for this civilization in its entirety; they're doing it for all of us. read more »
Why do so many women join the military despite the ongoing wars? I think most women join for the same reasons men do: opportunity, desire to serve and education. Personally, I joined to see what else was out there beyond small town Parkman, Maine. In an ideal world, a soldier is a soldier and women bring nothing more than a body to fill a uniform, just like a man. read more »
When the Team Lioness missions began in Ramadi, Iraq, in late 2003, they represented an ad hoc response to a boots-on-the-ground reality. Lioness soldiers were needed to accompany all-male infantry units outside the wire to help defuse tensions with Iraqi women and children during house searches and at traffic control checkpoints. These women, all support soldiers from the 1st Engineer Battalion and trained as cooks, clerks, mechanics and engineers, never expected to be attached to infantry units and go out on patrols and night raids. Nor did they expect to find themselves in direct ground combat. read more »
"You'd think because you're home you should be comfortable and fit right in, but when I got home, it wasn't like that. My mind was in Iraq. I couldn't tolerate being startled. And it just burned me up when my husband complained about stuff. It seemed so small compared to Iraq." Terris was also annoyed that her husband seemed to have taken over her role as parent. "The kids kept asking their dad for stuff instead of me. I had to tell them, 'hey, it's okay to ask me, too!'" read more »
Today, modern science and medicine have liberated women, not so much from childbearing as from the hideous consequences of doing so. I would argue that now, because we can now be expected to survive, we can also be expected to participate in our civilization as full and responsible equals. Women now serve because service is an ineluctable part of that responsibility read more »
Parents who choose to serve in the military are dedicated, both to their families and to the military. Someone with that amount of dedication and willingness to sacrifice time should not be punished. Their ability to parent should not be based solely on availability. read more »
Final Thoughts on Women and War: How Stories Can Make a Difference
Final Thoughts: Why Writing and Reading About War Matters
Final Thoughts on Women as Citizens: What Do We Do With Our Freedom
Final Thoughts on Women and War
In Praise of Military Women: Thanks for Taking on Responsibility for Our Nation
Women in the Military: What do Women Get from the Military?
Women in the Military: Defusing Tensions with Iraqi Women and Children, and More
Mothers in the Military: Reconciling Being a Mother with Being a Soldier
Mothers in the Military: Maternal Mortality Rate and Its Relationship to Combat
Mothers in the Military: Punishing Mothers Who Serve
Sexual Assault in the Military: A Nation's Shame
Sexual Assault in the Military: Shaming the Perpetrators, Instead of the Victims
Sex and the Military Woman: Female Soldiers Are Not Just Victims
Representing Women Soldiers in the Media: Stop Exploiting, Start Empowering
The Combat Ban and How It Negatively Affects Women Veterans
Women in Combat is a Moot Point
Introductions: How We Came to Make "Lioness"
The Combat Ban: Female Soldiers Are Already in Combat
Introduction: Blogging About Women and War
Introductions: On Not Being a "Nasty Female" in the Marine Corps
Introductions: An Unabashed Feminist Writes About Women in the Military
Introductions: The Successes and Failures of a Female Soldier
