Military, Women in Relation to

Women's Involvement with the Military

Despite this iconic belief that the military is the domain of men, women have been associated with the military for as long as there has been a military. From the time before women were officially allowed to participate in the military as soldiers, and still to this day, women have been intimately connected to the system through familial relations. Women are wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of military men, creating a direct link between women and this social institution. This connection means that women's lives are often deeply affected by the movements of militias and the deployment of troops. In the modern American military, nonsoldier women associated with the military through marriage or blood are often referred to as “military dependants” because of their social as well as financial dependence on the military industrial complex.

Within the United States, women's unofficial involvement with the military gradually became official, first as nurses in World War I, and later as enlisted soldiers and commissioned officers starting in World War II. Although the history of women in the military has been a controversial one, not to mention tenuous, their involvement has been undeniably important to the success and maintenance of the modern American military.

Beyond family members and soldiers, women's relation to the military has not always been positive or progressive. The only association many women have had with the military is as sex slaves, comfort women, or victims of sexual assault or abuse from members of opposing militaries. Because of the hypermasculine nature of the military and its endeavors, soldiers are often imbued with qualities of violence, aggression, and boldness, along with hypersexuality, thus creating an environment that leads to sexual abuse.

Historical Perspective of Women and the Military

In the past, female family members often served companies of male soldiers in order to stay connected. They acted as cooks, laundresses, and support staff for the traveling companies of men. Many stories relate the heroics of women who took up arms alongside their male relations, even though they were not trained to defend themselves. “Molly Pitcher” is the name given to a composite image of women who, during the Civil War, while traveling through battlefields to help keep soldiers hydrated, dropped their water pitchers and took up arms among fallen male soldiers in order to aid in the battle. Other women donned male clothing to serve as soldiers, taking on male names and personas. Most were only found out in case of illness, injury, or death. Once discovered, they often were barred from further participation in or with the military, and only some lucky few later in life received pensions or pay for their services.

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