Hypermasculinity

Several years ago, the CBS television series NCIS considered the case of a young U.S. Marine who had been subject to several medical and [Page 848]psychological experiments by his commanders who hoped to develop a perfect warrior. They envisioned a strong, ruthless, and essentially amoral individual whom they could send into any situation and who would endeavor to complete his assignment without any thought to the consequences. While this episode was fictional, it was based on the reality that military commanders have always wished to mold and shape new enlistees into soldiers, sailors, airmen, or marines ready to aggressively follow orders despite being tired, sick, hungry, or simply unwilling or unable to act on the orders they received. And as feminist observers have noted, the ...