Women's Military Roles Cross-Nationally

Abstract

This article outlines a theory of what affects the degree and nature of women's participation in the armed forces throughout history and across nations. Examining national security situations, military technology, military accession policies, demographic patterns, cultural values regarding gender, and structural patterns of gender roles, the article proposes a systematic theory of the conditions under which women's military roles expand and contract. The theory is then applied to analyze women's likely future role in armed forces. The military's need for personnel has been the driving force behind expansion of women's military roles through history and across nations, but cultural values supporting gender equality also contribute and seem likely to have increased influence in the future.

Flexibilização do Trabalho e Mobilidade Geográfica nas Forças Armadas

“…Evidencia-se ainda a condicionante de o estudo ter sido realizado num contexto laboral onde as mulheres só conseguiram uma porta aberta há cerca de 30 anos. Trata-se da instituição militar, uma das instituições sociais mais prototipicamente masculina (Segal, 1995). Em Portugal, se desde os anos 1960 se podem encontrar algumas mulheres na vida militar, nomeadamente, na Força Aérea, foi apenas no início dos anos 1990 que as mulheres tiveram possibilidade de, em regime voluntário, se candidatarem à prestação de serviço militar.…”

Understanding Attitudes on Gender and Training at the United States Air Force Academy

“…For women to participate in the traditionally defined masculine institution of the military, the military had to transform and become more compatible for women or women had to change and become more seemingly suited to military service (Segal, 1995). Women embraced the changes, and the law granted them acceptance into the armed services; however, women encountered confusion and resistance from a military with a masculine culture.…”

Gendered frontlines: British press coverage of women soldiers killed in Iraq

“…(Carreiras, 2006;Enloe, 1993;Kumar, 2004;Segal, 1993). These scholars have examined women's experiences in the armed forces (Carreiras, 2006), the militarisation of women's lives (Enloe, 1983(Enloe, , 2000, and women's military roles and participation (Segal, 1995). The study reported here draws on that foundation but diverges from it in two key directions.…”