Full Description
Women who fight in wars also have to fight for their right to do so. But what are the obstacles impeding their progress in achieving equal status as both active service members and as veterans? This book, written by a team of female veterans and military scholars, demonstrates the ways in which women service members and veterans experience a unique set of challenges when attempting to both honorably serve their country and reintegrate into civilian society following military service. These challenges include - but are not limited to - discrimination, staggering rates of suicide, and barriers to obtaining treatment for military sexual trauma and other critical benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Women Veterans: Lifting the Veil of Invisibility examines current service-related policies and gender in the military's hierarchical power structure. Here, a confluence of white male privilege and entitlement, the culture of domination, and the effeminization of the enemy manifest themselves as a backlash against women, calling into question a woman's agency and her very status as a citizen. Special attention in the book is paid to the civil-military divide, representative bureaucracy, and the function of the military and civilian justice systems. Moreover, the need for appropriate healthcare policies and structures is examined within a 'wicked problems' framework. The authors conclude that the responsibility for women veterans, and all veterans for that matter, must become a matter of compelling government interest. This ground-breaking book is required reading for practitioners of public policy and administration with an interest in military and veterans affairs, public health, NGOs and activist groups, as well as scholars of gender and public service, public personnel management, and nonprofit management.
Contents
Part I. Preface Part II. Inter-Sectionality 1. Women as Warriors 2. Women as "Other" 3. Women as Supporters and Caregivers 4. Women as "Sex Objects" 5. Women as "Marginalized" Part III. Citizenship 6. Agency and Second Class Status 7. Who is a Veteran? 8. The Selective Service Act 9. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) 10. The Combat Exclusion Policy Part IV. Military Culture 11. Male Privilege and Entitlement 12. A Culture of Domination 13. Effeminization of the Enemy 14. Backlash Against Women Part V. Women and Power 15. Women in Power 16. Women as Tokens 17. Women as Proxies for Men 18. The Role of Equalizers (Money, Economics, Education) Part VI. The Civil-Military Divide 19. Who Serves in the Military? 20. The Notion of Representative Bureaucracy 21. Legal Frameworks Apart: The UCMJ v. the Civilian Court System Part VII. Confronting Wicked Problems: The Role of Health and Violence 22. Determinants of Health 23. Impact of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) 24. The Military's Response to MST 25. Biological, Psychological and Sociological Outcomes Part VIII. Conclusion: The Implications of Veiled Invisibility 26. The Ethics of Responsibility
