Download - WGST 202 Day 29 War & Militarism
Dr. Sara DiazWGST 202: Gender, Difference, and PowerGonzaga University
Women, Militarism, and War
Expanded Definition
Violence is any relation, process, or condition by which an individual or a group violates the physical, social, and/or psychological integrity of another person or group. From this perspective, violence inhibits human growth, negates inherent potential, limits productive living, and causes death.
WAR WAGED ABROAD
Response QuestionResponse Question
• In what ways do wars affect women?
•How is sexual violence related to war and militarism?
•How have feminists worked against systematic forms of violence against women?
Sexual Violence and War
• Rape as a tool of war• Sexual exploitation (eg Subic Rape Case)• Increase in Domestic Violence• Everything from battery and rape to social
control• Increased demand for care work• Traumatized and wounded men and children• Increased difficulty accessing food, water,
shelter
Women and War
• Damage to Infrastructure and Environment• Temporary & Long term• Toxicity, Radiation → Genetic Mutation
• Economic desperation, migration and all the problems associated
• Loss of life• Family structures and economic supports• Injury• Physical, Psychological, Spiritual
EFFECTS OF WAR AT HOME
Discussion QuestionsDiscussion Questions
What does it mean when we say we live in a "militarized" society?
Militarism
• Our militarized society is thought to serve a purpose:• Security and Economy• Depression Era economy salvaged by
WWII• Economy became dependent on war. •What we now have is a system that
requires that we be in a state of constant war.
Militarism and Nuclearism
• Cold War? / Hot War?• https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8aWgRuVIxs
• Bomb also led to nuclear power• Three Mile Island• Hanford• Chernobyl• Fukushima
Women in the Military
• Combat – Stereotyping• If men can be trained to kill, why can’t
women?• Rank – Equity issues• Open Doors, Doesn’t mean Equal Opportunity
• Rape and sexual harassment• “Chilly Climate”
• Parental Arrangements• Until Recently: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Reproducing Inequalities
• Education benefits designed to compensate veterans and usher them into middle-class after WWII • Promise of class mobility is used to recruit• Target low income people, communities of color • Class stratification remains entrenched (particularly for
women)• The effects of war on soldiers (PTSD) disproportionately
burdens already struggling low income and communities of color • Prison-industrial complex• Homelessness, mental illness, physical disability
Feminist Critiques
• Spending• Sexism & Racism in the Military• Conflict between feminists about the peace
movement. • Military equity: impact on job opportunities for PoC. • Anti-militarism: broader social change which would
create more job ops outside of military for PoC.• Globalization• Post 9/11 activities (Constant War)• Liberty vs. Security• Sexual Violence & War
Militarism & Objectification
• Recruiting people of color to wage war on other people of color.• The objectification of “the enemy” and the
objectification of soldiers are linked.
Interventions? Resistances?
•How do we work on the problems of war?•How do we work on the problems of
militarism? •What actions can we take at the
micro, meso, and macro levels?