| Description |
This study examines U.S. servicewomen's experiences that distinctly revolve around their bodies-those of rape, abortion, and pregnancy-and how these experiences are represented and understood. Following other feminists, I label these "embodied experiences" as they involve an overlapping of the lived physical body and how it is discursively defined and valued. My dissertation is guided by two main research questions: How are various female embodied experiences influenced by and communicated via public discourses-media, policies, laws, doctrines, culture, and practices-and how do servicewomen talk about them? And, how does the U.S. military utilize representations of servicewomen's bodies to define gender, and what are the biopolitical implications? To answer these questions, I analyze three case studies. First, I examine the epidemic of sexual assault in the military through an analysis of the 2012 documentary The Invisible War (TIW). My study of this film reveals that in the wake of TIW, historically utilized containment strategies were employed by the military in order to remove systemic blame from the military and place responsibility on women and their bodily comportment. Second, I look at the 2013 Military Abortion Amendment and the ways it restricts and enables women's access to abortion and agency over reproductive decisions pertaining to their own bodies. I find that although the amendment appears at first blush to be quite progressive, when placed within the larger context of previous military abortion policies, it only serves to reify traditional subject positions of women in terms of abortion rights. Finally, I study servicewomen's pregnancy experiences while on active duty in the military, utilizing personal interviews, as well as analyses of policies, procedures, and culture. As a bodily experience that is quite visible, I discover that the military constitutes the pregnant soldier's body as a significant problem that inhibits military readiness and mission. Ultimately, each chapter argues that despite the many policies and procedures put in place to promote progress in gender equality, the armed forces' deep-seated cultural beliefs about sex and gender counteract many significant forms of progress. Instead, the hypermasculine culture of the military continues the biopolitical regulation of and discrimination against women based on their bodies. |
