NEGOTIATING GENDERED EXPECTATIONS: THE BASIC SOCIAL PROCESSES OF WOMEN IN THE MILITARY Manda V. Hicks A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2011 Committee: Sandra Faulkner, Advisor Melissa K. Miller, Graduate Faculty Representative Ellen Gorsevski Linda Dixon Vikki Krane ii ABSTRACT Sandra L. Faulkner, Advisor This research identifies the basic social processes for women in the military. Using grounded theory and feminist standpoint theories, I interviewed 38 active-duty and veteran service women. Feminist standpoint theories argue that within an institution, people who are the minority, oppressed, or disenfranchised will have a greater understanding of the institution than those who are privileged by it. Based on this understanding of feminist standpoint theories, this research argues that female service members will have a more expansive and diverse understanding of gender and military culture than male service members. I encouraged women to tell the story of their military experience and used analysis of narrative to identify the core categories of joining, learning, progressing, enduring, and ending. For women service members, the core variable of negotiating gendered expectations occurred throughout the basic social processes and primarily involved life choices, abilities, and sexual agency. This research serves as a forum for the lived experience of women in the military; through these articulations a set of particular standpoints regarding gender, war, and military culture emerge. Additionally, these data offer useful approaches to operating within male- dominated institutions and provide productive strategies for avoiding and challenging discrimination, harassment, and assault. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND, AND RATIONALE.......................... 1 Underserved Population ............................................................................................ 1 The Relationship Between Gender and War.............................................................. 7 The Objectives of the Study....................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...... 14 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................................ 14 War and Gender ........................................................................................................ 14 Research on Contemporary Women Service Members. ........................................... 18 Social Science and Rhetorical Perspective ................................................................ 25 Summary of Literature............................................................................................... 31 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK......................................................................................... 31 Social constructionism............................................................................................... 32 Feminist Standpoint Theories .................................................................................... 33 Summary ............................................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 42 Reflexivity ............................................................................................................ 44 Narratives of the Self ................................................................................................. 52 Unconventional Articulations .................................................................................... 53 Grounded Theory....................................................................................................... 56 Justification for the Use of Grounded Theory ........................................................... 58 Development of Grounded Theory ............................................................................ 59 iv Narrative Research..................................................................................................... 64 Procedure ............................................................................................................ 68 Analysis ............................................................................................................ 76 Summary ............................................................................................................ 80 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS.................................................................................................... 81 Basic Social Processes ............................................................................................... 81 Core Categories.......................................................................................................... 82 Core Variable ............................................................................................................ 87 Joining ............................................................................................................ 90 Learning ............................................................................................................ 98 Enduring ............................................................................................................ 124 Progressing ............................................................................................................ 149 Ending ............................................................................................................ 158 Summary ............................................................................................................ 163 CHAPTER V. DISCUSSION................................................................................................ 164 Discussion of Results................................................................................................. 164 Feminist Standpoint Theory....................................................................................... 169 Implications ............................................................................................................ 177 Future Directions ....................................................................................................... 179 Limitations ............................................................................................................ 180 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 181 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 183 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................ 198 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND, AND RATIONALE There are currently over 200,000 women service members in the United States military (Department of Defense, 2009). Women make up nearly 15 % of U.S. military forces. Although women are barred from holding a specific set of military occupational specialties1 (MOS), they are nonetheless deeply integrated into every aspect of military life. While women service members carry weapons, engage in combat, and are awarded military decorations for gallantry, their suitability for military life and combat is still routinely up for question within a public discourse that insists on ignoring the material reality of women in military service. Communication scholars direct attention and analysis to specific women soldiers like captured prisoner of war (POW) Private First Class (PFC) Jessica Lynch and disgraced Abu Ghraib guard PFC Lynndie England (Holland, 2006; Howard & Prividera, 2004; Lobasz, 2008; O’Connell, 2005; Prividera & Howard, 2006; Tucker & Walton, 2006), but little communication scholarship focuses on the everyday experiences of women service members2. Underserved Population In general, women service members and women veterans are an underserved and poorly understood population. In addition to the negative impacts of high military 1 MOS is the job one is assigned when entering the military. 2 The use of the term service member (rather than soldier) is due to differences among branches of the military. Each branch of the military (Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard) uses a unique title for both officers and enlisted service members. For example, an enlisted woman in the Army would be a soldier, while an enlisted woman in the Air Force would be an airman. Unless referring to research that specifically uses the term soldier for analysis, specific individuals (i.e. PFC Lynch, a soldier) or groups (i.e. the WAACS and the WACS were both corps in the Army, and therefore soldiers), the terms woman service member or enlisted woman will be utilized for the purposes of this research. 2 operational tempo in a war-time environment, research shows that service members have a greater likelihood of coming from a socio-economically disadvantaged background with multiple experiences of violence and trauma (before, during and after military service) than their civilian counterparts (Glantz, 2002; Martin, Rosen, Durand, Knudson & Stretch, 2000). Women service members, in particular, are exposed to circumstances linked to higher levels of abuse, violence,