New Roles or "New Times"? Gender Inequality and Militarism in Israel's Nation-in-Arms

Robbins, Joyce C.; Ben‐Eliezer, Uri

doi:10.1093/sp/7.3.309

Cited by 25 publications

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“…The aspiration to promote women in the military represents, according to the radical feminist stand, a 'militaristic feminism' that has internalized the masculine and reifies the armed forces as an institution that certifies citizenship. In Israel, Robbins and Ben-Eliezer (2000) maintain, this argument is of special significance because women soldiers struggling for inclusion in the military are aiming to improve their social status and achieve self-actualization while ignoring the central role that the military has played in implementing Israel's occupation policy since 1967. Consequently, radical and cultural feminists argue that the struggle for gender equality in Israel should focus on peace processes and demilitarization rather than on the integration of women in combat roles.…”

Section: Discussion: Producing Knowledge In a Political Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This contention launched a field of research that looks beyond army bases and asks about the implications of the military gender regime for civilian society in terms of family, education, citizenship, and culture. Robbins and Ben-Eliezer (2000) argue that, through its gendered division of labor, the military has maintained two contrasting faces: a humanitarian and even family-like Women's Corps, on the one hand, and a male fighting force, on the other. The authors conclude that women's service ultimately serves the cause of Israeli militarism more than it serves women or gender equality, and that therefore women's struggle for equal military participation only reinforces a militaristic worldview.…”

Section: Broadening the Perspective: The Significance Of Women's Servmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Research on Gender and the Military in Israel: From a Gendered Organization to Inequality Regimes

Sasson‐Levy¹

2011

Israel Studies Review

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This article offers an analytical review of the research on gender and the military in Israel since the 1970s. I argue that the research in this field has undergone a paradigmatic shift that is based on five analytical transformations: (1) a move from a binary gendered conception to intersectionality analysis; (2) a shift from a dichotomous perception of the military organization to an analysis based on 'inequality regime' theory; (3) an emphasis on women as agents of change and resistance; (4) a focus on men and militarized masculinities; and (5) macro-analysis of the significance of women's service in a militaristic society. The article concludes with a discussion of the current political dynamics and conflicts that shape both the construction of the military gender regime and the production of the research in this field.

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Section: Discussion: Producing Knowledge In a Political Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Broadening the Perspective: The Significance Of Women's Servmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on Gender and the Military in Israel: From a Gendered Organization to Inequality Regimes

Sasson‐Levy¹

2011

Israel Studies Review

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“…Moreover, Joyce Robbins and Uri Ben-Eliezer (2000) contend that women's service in semicombat roles serves to legitimize the military and militarism in times of political controversy over the role of the army in the occupied territories. Thus, the structural gendered changes within the military call for a renewed analysis of the various theoretical positions on women in the military.…”

Section: Women the Military And Citizenship In Israelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feminism and Military Gender Practices: Israeli Women Soldiers in “Masculine” Roles

Sasson‐Levy

2003

Sociological Inquiry

190

161

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Women's military service is the focus of an ongoing controversy because of its implications for the gendered nature of citizenship. While liberal feminists endorse equal service as a venue for equal citizenship, radical feminists see women's service as a reification of martial citizenship and cooperation with a hierarchical and sexist institution. These debates, however, tend to ignore the perspective of the women soldiers themselves.This paper seeks to add to the contemporary debate on women's military service the subjective dimension of gender and national identities of women soldiers serving in "masculine" roles. I use a theory of identity practices in order to analyze the interaction between state institutions and identity construction. Based on in-depth interviews, I argue that Israeli women soldiers in "masculine" roles shape their gender identities according to the hegemonic masculinity of the combat soldier through three interrelated practices:(1) mimicry of combat soldiers' bodily and discursive practices; (2) distancing from "traditional femininity"; and (3) trivialization of sexual harassment.These practices signify both resistance and compliance with the military dichotomized gender order. While these transgender performances subvert the hegemonic norms of masculinity and femininity, they also collaborate with the military androcentric norms. Thus, although these women soldiers individually transgress gender boundaries, they internalize the military's masculine ideology and values and learn to identify with the patriarchal order of the army and the state. This accounts for a pattern of "limited inclusion" that reaffirms their marginalization, thus prohibiting them from developing a collective consciousness that would challenge the gendered structure of citizenship. This paper seeks to add to the contemporary debate on women's military service the subjective dimension of gender and national identities of women soldiers serving in "masculine" roles. The ongoing debate regarding women's military service tends to view women soldiers as pawns in a bigger game: the military often regards women soldiers in combat roles as hindering the military gender system and therefore damaging the efficiency of the masculine war machine (Katzenstein 1998; Mitchell 1989, p. 218; Peach 1996, pp. 164-74). Feminist observers, on the other hand, tend to see women soldiers as either serving or harming women's interests as a whole. The most dominant question in this debate is whether military service is a venue for equal citizenship for women or a reinforcement and reification of masculine concepts of martial citizenship. Thus, the contemporary debate on women in the military tends to remain on the macrolevel and ignores the gender experience of women soldiers themselves (for an exception, see Herbert 1998).My paper focuses on the subjective gender experience of women soldiers in "nontraditional" military roles and the meaning of those experiences at both the microlevel of women's lives and the macrolevel of the military and st...

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“…Yet, Israel'sw ar of independence should be treateda s an exceptional event, andthus women's involvemento nt he frontl ine did not reflectf ormal policy.I nf act, the role of Israeli women in militarys ervice was not formalised until ay ear later, when women would be drafted butnot fight. 76 Af emalei mmigrantf romS outh Africa, Alice Miller,appealed to the Israeli High Court of Justice in 1994, arguingt hat therecan be no grounds forexcluding her from aqualifying examination formilitary jobs. 77 The court sided with Miller,leading to a1 996 bill to amend the Defense ServiceL aw,t herebyg ranting women the same rights to take this qualifying military exam.…”

Section: Judicial and Legislative Drivers For Inclusivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Women in Ground Close Combat

2016

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New Roles or "New Times"? Gender Inequality and Militarism in Israel's Nation-in-Arms

Cited by 25 publications

References 0 publications

Research on Gender and the Military in Israel: From a Gendered Organization to Inequality Regimes

Research on Gender and the Military in Israel: From a Gendered Organization to Inequality Regimes

Feminism and Military Gender Practices: Israeli Women Soldiers in “Masculine” Roles

Women in Ground Close Combat

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