Spies

The 20th century has been called the century of intelligence. Groundbreaking changes in technology revolutionized the intelligence community, but one factor remains unchanged: the importance and reliance on human intelligence. The gathering of information for purposes related to national defense, during times of war and peace, has provoked and continues to provoke fierce debate in relation to the different intelligence-gathering techniques, as well as the ethical questions surrounding mass surveillance. Consequently, such discussions converge on those engaged in such secret maneuverings, otherwise known as spies—a loose term that encompasses spooks, secret agents, intelligence operatives, and assets. However, this profession is one that society and the intelligence world have regarded and continue to regard through gender differentiation—viewing male and female spies differently by focusing on maleness ...