Women of the Contemporary Militia Movement: Perceptions of Ideology Through Experience Identity Voice and Action
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1997 Women of the contemporary Militia Movement: Perceptions of ideology through experience identity voice and action Gina R. Terinoni The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Terinoni, Gina R., "Women of the contemporary Militia Movement: Perceptions of ideology through experience identity voice and action" (1997). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5239. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5239 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY The University o f .AJNLA. Permission is granted by the author to reproduce tliis material in its entirety, provided that this material is used for scholarly purposes and is properly cited in published works and reports. ** Please check "Yes" or "No" and provide signature ** Yes, I grant permission No, I do not grant permission ______ Author’s Signature Date 1 \ j 2 A h i ________________________ Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author's explicit consent. WOMEN OF THE CONTEMPORARY MILITIA MOVEMENT: PERCEPTIONS OF IDEOLOGY THROUGH EXPERIENCE, IDENTITY, VOICE AND ACTION by Gina R. Terinoni B.A. Mansfield University, 1993 presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The University of Montana 1997 Approved by: Char 'son Dean, Graduate School Date UMI Number: EP40703 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI EP40703 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Terinoni, Gina R., M.A., November 1997 Anthropology Women of the Contemporary Militia Movement: Perceptions of Ideology through Experience, Identity, Voice,^qd Action. (152 pp.) Chair: Dr. Gregory Camp In addition to the lack of research regarding the Militia Movement and the confusion surrounding members’ identities within other Far Right groups, women militia members have been almost completely overlooked. Traditional wisdom maintains that women who are the wives of militia men only act as “auxiliaries” to them, thus seldom exhibiting independent action. This characterization of women militia members as “auxiliaries” neglects a significant aspect of collective action among American citizens. This research challenges the depiction of the Militia Movement as a “movement of men” by examining the militia women as independent actors. The theoretical and method approach is discussed as a means of exploration into this politically sensitive topic. Feminist theory and social action theory are used to determine the strategies and motivation involved within this gender-integrated movement. Also this movement’s expression of resistance is analyzed. Methods that were applied include observer-as-participant and various forms of interviewing. The life history method, being the most prominent method, was used when interviewing to give voice to the militia women. It allowed them the opportunity to explain their choices and reasons for their identity with the Militia Movement, to reflect on certain events that effected their belief system, and to discuss ways in which they learned the movement’s dominant ideologies. By applying the life history method, the militia women’s perception is portrayed through experience, identity, talk, and action. Analysis of their stories contributes to the illustration of these women’s ideologies and the strategies they use to express their beliefs. Various themes that surfaced during the interviews are explored which include: anti feminism, getting “back to basics,” gender roles with the movement, the U.S. public education system, anti-Communism, and race. This portrait of militia women maintains each woman’s individuality, at the same time it presents an image of experience that can be used to understand other women’s identity with the Militia Movement. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Special appreciation is extended to my thesis committee: my chair, Dr. Gregory Campbell for offering constant academic and emotional support throughout my graduate studies, Dr. Katherine Weist for her enthusiasm and continuous suggestions especially regarding my methods and theory, and Dr. Rodney Brod for his editing and critiquing skills. Also, I thank Dr. Robert Balch for introducing me to the Far Right network, therefore opening the door to my studies. My friends and colleagues have been most helpful in stimulating my ideas and focus, especially Aaron Goodfellow for suggesting this topic and offering support when I accepted the challenge, Beverly Orth’s automobile expertise, and Jim Russo’s random acts of spiritual uplifting. Gratitude to my family members especially my mother and father, Madlyne and Eugene, and my sister and brother-in-law, Maria and Tom, for giving me lasting support and encouragement. And, to Matthew, for his genuine interest and confidence, and the use of his Bronco which allowed me to conduct fieldwork! I am most grateful to all of the women and their families who eagerly expressed their deepest thoughts and concerns, thus enabling me to discover their roles as social actors in society. Without their understanding and acceptance of me as an academic this research would not have been possible. The Female o f the Species by Rudyard Kipling, 1911 When the HIMALAYAN peasant meets the he-bear in his pride, He shouts to scare the monster, who will often turn aside; But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail, For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. When Nag the basking cobra hears the careless foot of man, He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it as he can; But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail, For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws, They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws. ‘Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale, For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. Man’s timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say, For the Woman that God gave him isn’t his to give away; But when the hunter meets with husband, each confirms the other’s tale— The female of the species is more deadly than the male. Man, a bear in most relations—worm and savage otherwise,— Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise. Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act. Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low, To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe. Mirth obscene diverts his anger! Doubt and Pity oft perplex Him in dealing with an issue— to the scandal of The Sex! But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same; And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail, The female of the species must be deadlier than the male. She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast May not deal in doubt or pity— must not swerve for fact or jest. These be purely male diversions—not in these her honour dwells. She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else. She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great IV And the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate! And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same. She is wedded to convictions— in default of grosser ties; Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!~ He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild, Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child. Unprovoked and awful changes— even so the she-bear fights, Speech that drips, corrodes, and poisons— even so the cobra bites, Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw, And the victim writhes in anguish—like the Jesuit with the squaw! So it comes that Man the coward, when he gathers to confer With her fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring bands To some God of Abstract Justice-^-which no woman understands. And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him Must command but may not govern—shall enthral but not enslave him. And She knows, because She warns him, and Her instincts never fail, That the Female of Her Species is more deadly than the Male. v CONTENTS Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................1 2. THEORETICAL ORIENTATION AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH...................................................................................... 22 3. RE-EMERGENCE OF THE MILITIA MOVEMENT ...........................50 4. LIFE HISTORIES OF MILITIA WOMEN .............................................69 5. ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL COMPONENTS OF THE MILITIA MOVEMENT: THE WOMEN’S PERCEPTION.