1

Moving Words / Words that Move: Language Practices Plaguing U.S Servicewomen

Mariana Grohowski Bowling Green State University

Published in Women & Language, 37(1), 121–130. 2014. In this essay, I exemplify how language practices used within the United States Armed

Forces create and reinforce the “norms” of military culture — a culture that favors male

service members at the expense of dehumanizing female service-members. Two such

language practices are nicknames and marching/running cadences or “jody calls,” which

couple the call and response of sexually degrading messages with marching in formation.

As part of a larger project that focuses on how military veterans use and are used by

gender-oppressive language practices and how they use composing practices to redress

and heal from such damage, I have conducted forty-plus interviews with both current and

former male and female military-service personnel. My purpose here is not to report on

my own project but to call attention to how current and former female military-service

personnel are reacting to misogynous military language practices. What I have learned

from my interviews resonates with recent issue advocacy projects such as the

documentaries The Invisible War (2012) and Solider Girl (2011); memoirs like Jess

Goodell’s Shade It Black (2011) and Kayla Williams’ Love My Rifle More Than You

(2005); as well as dozens of testimonies shared in the U.S. House of Representatives by

Congresswoman Jackie Speire. Across these narratives a pattern becomes glaringly

obvious: Servicewomen and their male counterparts are exposed to misogynous speech;

both men and women use such language; and even minimal usage fosters consent to a

culture of gender discrimination in which advanced forms of harassment and

2

discrimination (such as rape or in military parlance, Military Sexual Trauma or MST1)

take place. It only seems logical to surmise that acts of sexual violence and assault

servicewomen experience begin at the level of words.2

Along with examining entrenched military language practices, I highlight here the

previously cited examples of memoir writing, art, and performance by former female

military-service personnel that offer critical visibility for their experiences in order to

advocate for public action. None of us — civilian, veteran, or military service-personnel

— can afford to remain silent about the lasting power language practices have on the

human psyche. I urge readers to listen to and act upon the lessons servicewomen have

shared about the oppressive power of mundane military language practices (Caplan,

2011; Herman, 1997).

Moving Words: Nicknames

In her memoir Shade It Black (2011), former Marine Jess Goodell explained the role of

nicknames in the Corps.3 Goodell revealed:

Women were assigned nicknames by the men who reminded them of how they

were perceived, what they were seen as, names like Legs and Dolly, names that

were unshakable and became what the women were called, at least behind their

backs. (p. 25)

Another female veteran and writer on the topic of nicknames is Kayla Williams (2005),

who affirmed and complicated Goodell’s (2011) claims when discussing a nickname she

3

claimed is given to all new female recruits: “queen for a year.” Williams explained the

term has been used since women nurses served in Vietnam, and it refers to the

assumption that enlisted women can (and do) use their sexual identity “to great

advantage” (p. 19). Williams asserted a more provocative approach to one of the many

“assigned” nicknames servicewomen have been forced to grow accustomed to than is the

case in other books written by or about female veterans (see Karpinksi & Stasser, 2005;

Bragg & Lynch, 2003). However, Williams’ stance could be interpreted as a signal of

consent for servicemen to treat servicewomen as sexual objects. Williams’ appropriation

of this term conspires with the hyper-masculine military culture because this usage not

only admits that men see servicewomen as sexual commodities but encourages

servicewomen to perform this role, thereby reinforcing a culture that salutes the

marginalization and inequality of women.

The women’s voices in Cathy Brookshire’s (2011) documentary project Solider Girl:

South Carolina Women Veterans fostered a fuller picture of the effects the nickname

“queen for a year” may have on military culture for men and women. Whereas one voice

in Brookshire’s project confirmed Williams’ stance on the term, revealing the benefits

she received from being “a man’s pet,” this stance was not taken by the majority. Most of

the women, while aware of their role as “queens” in the U.S. Armed Forces, revealed the

physical, psychological, mental, and emotional damage such positions fostered (see

Benedict, 2011). As one strong woman shared, women had to be on the defense against

their male counterparts; at times, women had to view men as the enemy in order to

protect themselves.

4

Words that Move: Cadences

Though the practice of marching and chanting is said to build camaraderie between

soldiers, I would argue that because the military cadences (also known as “jody calls” or

“jodies”) often employ, or rather rely on sexist terms, this language practice serves to

further ostracize female soldiers, while simultaneously bringing male soldiers closer

together and perpetuating a societal consent to mark servicewomen as outsiders.

Consider the recollection of cadences by former Marine Jess Goodell (2011):

The eight-count cadences that motivated us and coordinated our marching and

running in formation were created by and for men. Cadences like Momma and

poppa were lying in bed, poppa rolled over and this is what he said, ‘Give me

some! PT!’ They are straight out of an amped-up masculine world, yet the women

stomp and march to them too, alongside the men . . . cadences also served to

maintain a way of life . . . of seeing things that encouraged even top notch

Marines to be perceived as female Marines. (p. 64)

A few paragraphs later, Goodell (2011) shared her experience leading a running cadence;

Goodell switched genders in the previously mentioned cadence, making the man

submissive to the woman. Goodell recalled her sergeant’s verbal, public lashing; she

questioned her sergeant: Why was it acceptable for men to place women in submissive

positions and not the other way around? To which her sergeant replied: “These cadences

have been around for a long time. Who in the hell are you to change them?” (p. 66).

Reflecting on the experience, Goodell poignantly stated, “It was as though there were two

5

levels of asymmetric warfare being waged simultaneously” (p. 67). Comparatively, Jen

Hogg’s (2009) performance art, The Sexual Politics of War, supports and confirms

Goodell’s (2011) cadence experience while offering commentary about the culture of the

U.S. Armed Forces.

As seen in Figure 1 below, Hogg’s public performance combined the recitation of her

poetry to music and a choreographed marching cadence performed by men and women.4

Like Goodell (2011), Hogg (2009) noted that servicewomen experience two levels of

warfare during deployments:

Fig. 1. Public performance and poem The Sexual Politics of War (Hogg, 2009)

The choreographed marching cadence in the video performance of The Sexual Politics of

War suggests that beyond experiencing marginalization for being a woman in the U.S.

Armed Forces, servicewomen run the high risk of being the target of sexual harassment,

or Military Sexual Trauma (e.g. rape) by their male counterparts—the very individuals

servicewomen are trained to put before themselves for the sake of their unit’s cohesion.

War

Is it a place young men, targets in uniform, fight in a far off land

Or is it my walk home at night, womanhood my uniform and target

(n.p.).

6

If Goodell (2011) and Hogg’s (2009) testimonies are not enough, consider the lyrics to a

cadence Air Force Technical Sergeant Jennifer Smith found on her government computer

while stationed at Shaw Air Force Base. The cadence, appearing on page seventy-four of

a one hundred twenty-four page Microsoft Word document labeled the “77th Songbook”

is titled “The S & M Man.” The twenty-fourth time (see Figure 2 below) Congresswoman

Jackie Speier (2012) took to the House floor to speak about “the epidemic of rape in the

military,” Speier chose to read some of the cadence lyrics Smith found in the “77th

Songbook.”

Fig. 2 Congressman Jackie Speire speaking on the House Floor. 19 Dec. 2012.

What follows are the lyrics from one of many cadences from the songbook, along with

part of Speier’s rich address:

Who can take a machete, whack off all her limbs, throw her in the ocean, and

watch her try to swim? The S & M Man. “The S & M Man” is offensive, it's

hostile, but to her [Jennifer Smith] male colleagues and superiors, the song is just

tradition. A tradition that is alive and well, celebrated in song and patches,

offensive pictures, and behavior, and the tacit approval of commanding officers.

A military tradition of demeaning women is not only sickening but contrary to the

7

fundamental principles of an institution founded in respect — founded in respect

and honor and in discipline, and it undermines our military's readiness and

cohesion. Simply put, it gravely damages the military. (Speire, 2012)

Words that move

The issues servicewomen face during enlistment are further complicated when they

return home (see Benedict, 2009; Goodell, 2011; Holmstedt, 2009). Although “women

are just as likely as men to experience the struggles and benefits of service upon

discharge” (Patten & Parker, 2011; p. 2), women are less likely than their male

counterparts to seek veteran services upon homecoming (Baechtold & De Sawal, 2009;

Bhagwati, 2011; Hickey, 2011; Mulhall, 2009). However, some former female military-

service personnel are utilizing the Internet and social media as well as the healing and

communicative affordances of artistic composing for outreach and activist agendas.

Healing connections through social media

As female veteran and activist BriGette McCoy (2013) explained to the U.S. Senate (see

Figure 3)5: “Social media has been the single most [sic] thing that brought people

together . . . for peer support and suicide prevention” (pp. 35-36).

8

Fig 3. Second from left, BriGette McCoy delivering testimony to U.S. Senate.

13 March 2013. Washington, D.C.

McCoy’s (2013) testimony hinted at the thousands of female and male veterans utilizing

social media for activist and outreach purposes. There are currently hundreds of open and

closed groups for veterans on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other standalone sites. In fact, as

New Media scholar Jay David Bolter (2001) noted, “the World Wide Web allows the

tiniest of groups” to be heard, seen, and to make change (pp. 206-207). Furthermore,

investigating the role of online communities for servicewomen and female veterans, D.

Alexis Hart (2011) has noted the essential nature of online groups for servicewomen and

women in otherwise male dominated professions.

As Hart posited: “The tendency of male voices to take over women's discussions . . . is

one motivation for women to develop password-protected, nonpublic discursive spaces in

which women communicate exclusively with one another” (p. 86). Moreover, Hart

argued that social networking and online communities afford servicewomen the space to

“find their voice, raise collective consciousness, and possibly even effect public change”

(pp. 84–85). Indeed, Judith Herman's (1997) groundbreaking work on trauma agrees and

confirms Hart’s findings by arguing that although traumatic events cause women to

“disconnect from family, friendship, love, community, and the construction of self that is

9

formed and sustained in relation to others” (p. 51), trauma recovery is a social enterprise.

As Herman argued,

In the task of healing, therefore, each survivor must find her own way to restore

her sense of connection with the wider community . . . women who recover most

successfully are those who discover some meaning in their experience that

transcends the limits of personal tragedy. Most commonly, women find this

meaning by joining with others in social action. (p. 73).

Thus, Herman (1997) and Hart (2011) confirm and further exemplify McCoy’s (2013)

claim that social connections are important for female veterans and servicewomen.

Healing through art

Akin to social media and online communities’ influence for fostering connections and

trauma recovery for female veterans is the importance of current and former female

military-service personnel making and sharing art. Artistic composing affords current and

former female military-service personnel means of self-healing. In fact, scholars of

composing as healing from trauma note, the “wordlessness of traumatic memory”

(Herman, 1997; p. 175; Caplan, 2011; MacCurdy, 2000; pp. 163–165).

In March of 2012, Erica Slone, artist, activist, and Iraq Air Force veteran, curated an all-

female veteran art exhibit titled Overlooked / Looked over for the National Veterans Art

Museum (NVAM) in Chicago. Slone’s piece in particular (see Figure 4) speaks volumes

in its absence of language.

10

Slone and eight other female veterans’ shared their artwork, “to shine light on the unique

experiences of women during service, in war, and as veterans” (National 2012a, p. 2). At

the opening reception for the exhibit Slone explained, “My piece [titled Uncovering my

Crime Scene] is about investigating, understanding, and trying to reconcile my decision

not to come forward” about her MST, which occurred just two months into her enlistment

in the Air Force (National 201 b, n.p.).

Fig 4. Uncovering my Crime Scene. Artist Erica Slone. NVAM Chicago, IL

Exhibits such as this one call attention to the value of composing as both personally and

as collectively healing for current and former female military-service personnel. Just as

importantly, such exhibitions offer a catalyst for awareness and action among the public

at large.

Moving beyond words

Slone (2012), McCoy (2013), and the women and male veterans like them who have

turned to art, the Internet, and social media for outreach and activist purposes challenge

otherwise unexamined language practices and ideologies plaguing current and former

female military-service personnel. Perhaps we might consider taking a cue from these

11

women and move beyond words toward action that will draw attention to, and hopefully

facilitate intolerance of, these degrading practices that foster sexual violence against

women. I offer three suggestions for moving beyond our complicity (i.e., silence and

inaction) to the hegemonic discourse surrounding rape in both military and civilian

cultures, which I have been taught by listening to veterans:

1. Listen: The best favor we can do to anyone, especially our former female military-

service personnel, is to listen to them. Many such women admit to feeling silenced during

their military careers (Benedict, 2009; Bragg & Lynch, 2003; Goodell 2011; Karpinksi &

Strasser, 2005; Williams, 2005). We cannot permit their continued silence; we must

invite former female military-service personnel to speak while we listen attentively and

without judgment. Listening is a powerful act of personal and social change. As Paula J.

Caplan (2011) argued, “the most important initial needs of returning veterans are to be

heard, understood, validated, and comforted in a way that matches their personal style . . .

there is much to be learned by listening carefully and intently” (emphasis added, p.176).

2. Share: Transitioning veterans cannot be expected to know about the various resources

available to them; as is often the case, not even the U.S. Armed Forces explicitly educates

discharged or retired soldiers about their earned benefits.6 Thus, we must share

information about resources with former military-service personnel and suggest a wide

variety of platforms for services and outreach: not just face-to-face but also online; not

just traditional medicine but various kinds of approaches to health and human services.

12

Indeed, as Caplan stressed, “veterans need to be informed of the many options that help

them heal, not just therapy and drugs” (2011, p. 95), since many veterans do not know

what to ask for. In particular, former female military-service personnel may need others

to share information about resources since women’s roles as caregivers to children, aging

parents, or disabled partners often cause women to put others’ needs before their own,

thereby preventing them from seeking the resources and benefits they need and deserve

(Baechtold & De Sawal, 2009; Holmstedt, 2009).

3. Advocate: Our collective and individual silences about rape and hate speech in the

form of derogatory language practices is also our acceptance of these forms of violence.

We cannot remain silent if we desire violence against our current and former female

military-service personnel (and minorities) to cease. Each of us can advocate for such

women through multiple avenues. One approach to advocacy for female veterans is

through the Twitter hashtag #notinvisible. This approach was offered by the documentary

film The Invisible War (2012), which exposed the military’s endemic of MST and the

lasting traumas MST has on current and former, male and female military-service

personnel. Advocacy for former female military-service personnel is imperative and has

historically been under-supported. We must increase our efforts in order for change to

occur.

If each of us tried to implement one or all of these actions we just might be able to create

as Caplan argued, “a more receptive context, a sense of shared responsibility, a

heightened awareness of the horrors of war and their impact. We can hope that this social

13

transmission might even change public perceptions and attitudes toward vets and wars”

(2011, p.174). We must try. Change for current and former female military-service

personnel must come now.

Notes 1. Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is the preferred terminology for rape and sexual assault

by Veterans Affairs (VA). The Department of Defense’s (DoD) 2012 Annual Report on

Sexual Assault estimated an almost two percent increase in the rate of MST occurring

annually in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces from their 2010 report. The DoD’s

estimate rose from 19,000 in 2010 to 26,000 in 2012 (p. 12).

2. Helen Benedict (2005) in “The language of rape” poignantly wrote, “the language of

rape is insidious and it is used unconsciously, quickly, carelessly; yet I maintain that we

need not listen passively in the face of its bias. Language can be and has been reformed in

the media and symbiotically, in everyday life” (p. 126).

3. This example resonates with Mary Sheridan-Rabideau’s (2002) work on verbal

imagery.

4. Hogg’s poem, “The sexual politics of war,” was adapted into a public performance for

the Warrior Writers Project, entitled the same, choreographed by Lily Hughes with music

composed by Ritsu Katsumata.

5. BriGette McCoy spoke during the “Hearing to receive testimony on sexual assaults in

the military” on March 13, 2013, at the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Armed Services in

Washington, DC.

14

6. My father served as active duty in the Army during Vietnam. Once he was discharged

no one told him about the benefits he had earned; he was informed of his eligibility for

Veterans Affairs’ benefits 30 years after his service.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Patty Sotirin, the reviewers, and copyeditors at Women &

Language with their help on the current iteration of this paper.

References Baechtold, M., & De Sawal, D. M. (2009). Meeting the needs of women veterans. In

Robert Ackerman and David DiRamio (Eds.), Creating a veteran friendly campus: Strategies for transition and success (pp. 35-43). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Benedict, H. (2005). The language of rape. In E. Buchwald, P. R. Fletcher, & M. Roth (Eds.), Transforming a rape culture (pp. 123-7). Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.

Benedict, H. (2009). The lonely soldier: The private war of women serving in Iraq. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Benedict, H. (2011). The sand queen. New York, NY: Soho Press. Bhagwati, A. K. (2011). Military women at risk for suicide. The New York Times.

Retrieved 10 June 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/11/20/how-can-we-prevent-military-suicides/military-women-at-risk-for-suicide.

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bragg, R., & Lynch, J. (2003). I am a soldier, too: The Jessica Lynch story. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Brookshire, C. (Producer). Brookshire, C. (Director). (2011). Soldier girl: South Carolina women veterans [Documentary Short]. USA.

Caplan, Paula. (2011). When Johnny and Jane come marching home: How all of us can help veterans. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. (2013). Department of Defense annual report on sexual assault in the military, FY 2012, 1, pp. 1-729. Retrieved 12 June 2013 from http://www.sapr.mil/media/pdf/reports/FY12_DoD_SAPRO_Annual_Report_on_Sexual_Assault-VOLUME_ONE.pdf

15

Diramio, D., & Jarvis, K. (2011). Women warriors: Supporting female student veterans. In Veterans in higher education: When Johnny and Jane come marching to campus. ASHE Higher Education Report, 37(3), 69-80.

Goodell, J., & Hearn, J. (2011). Shade it black: Death and after in Iraq. Philadelphia, PA: Casemate.

Hart, Alexis D. (2011). Inquiring communally, acting collectively: The community literacy of the academy women ementor portal and facebook group. Community Literacy Journal, 6(1), 79-90.

Herman, J., M.D. (1997). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Hickey, A. A. (2011). Honoring women veterans: A message from Under Secretary Allison Hickey. The White House Blog: Women. Retrieved 10 June 2013 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/11/11/honoring-women-veterans-message-under-secretary-alison-hickey.

Hogg, J. (Producer). (2012). The Sexual Politics of War [video]. Available from http://www.warriorwriters.org/Artists/JenH.html.

Holmstedt, K. (2009). The girls come marching home: Stories of women warriors returning from the war in Iraq. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

Karpinksi, J., & Strasser S. (2005). One woman’s army: The Commanding General of Abu Gharib tells her story. New York, NY: Hyperion.

McCoy, B. (2013). Statement to the U.S. Senate, subcommittee on personal, committee on armed services. Hearing to receive testimony on sexual assaults in the military, 112th Cong., 35. Retrieved 10 June 2013 from http://www.armedservices.senate.gov/Transcripts/2013/03%20March/13-10%20-%203-13-13.pdf.

Mulhall, E. (2009). Women warriors: Supporting she ‘who has borne the battle.’ Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America (pp. 1-15). Retrieved 10 June 2013 from http://media.iava.org/IAVA_WomensReport_2009.pdf.

National Veterans Art Museum. (2012a). Overlooked / looked over educational resource guide (pp. 1-17). Retrieved 14 April 2013 from http://www.nvam.org/images/stories/overlookedcurriculumguide.pdf.

National Veterans Art Museum. (Producer / Director). (2012b). Overlooked / looked over: Opening reception – Artist talks [Video recording]. Retrieved 14 April 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll0-K5hsxR0&feature=youtube.

Patten, E., & Parker, K. (2011). Women in the U.S. military: Growing share, distinctive profile. Rep. Washington DC: Pew Research Center (pp. 1-12). Retrieved 11 June 2013 from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/22/women-in-the-u-s-military-growing-share-distinctive-profile/.

Prividera, L.C., & Howard, J.W. (2012). Paradoxical injunctions and double binds: A critical examination of discourse on female soldiers. Women and Language, 35(2), 53-73.

Sheridan-Rabideau, M. (2002). Calling all radio girls: Talking to a new image. In K. Fleckenstein, L. T. Calendrillo, & D. A. Worley (Eds.), Language and image in the reading-writing classroom: Teaching vision (pp. 165-76). Mahwan, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

16

Slone, E. (2012). Uncovering my crime scene [Mixed media]. Retrieved 11 June 2013 from http://www.nvam.org/collection-online/index.php?artist=Slone%2C+Erica.

Speire, J. (2012). It’s time for us all to speak up. General speech to U.S. Congress. [Video recording]. Retrieved 13 April 2013 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56AB-VnC_Eo.

Williams, K, & Staub, M.E. (2005). Love my rifle more than you: Young and female in the U.S. army. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Ziering, A. (Producer), & Dick, K. (Director). (2012). The invisible war [Documentary film]. USA: Cinedigm.

Biography

Mariana Grohowski is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English, Rhetoric and

Writing Program at Bowling Green State University (Ohio). Her research explores the

literate practices of current and former military-service personnel for social and personal

change. She is the Vice President of Military Experience and the Arts, a nonprofit

organization sponsoring multimodal composing to bridge the military/civilian divide.