A Soldier and a Woman: Sexual Integration in the Military (Women And Men In History) - Softcover

Groot, Gerard J.De

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0582414385 ISBN 13: 9780582414389

Publisher: Routledge, 2000

Synopsis

 The question of women's role in the military is extremely topical. A Woman and a Soldier covers the experiences of women in the military from the late mediaeval period to the present day. Written in two volumes this comprehensive guide covers a wide range of wars: The Thirty Years War, the French and Indian Wars in Northern America, the Anglo-Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, the Long March in China, and the Vietnam War. There are also thematic chapters, including studies of terrorism and contemporary military service. Taking a multidisciplinary approach: historical, anthropological, and cultural, the book shows the variety of arguments used to support or deny women's military service and the combat taboo. In the process the book challenges preconceived notions about women's integration in the military and builds a picture of the ideological and practical issues surrounding women soldiers.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The image of an armed woman is one rife with tension - it challenges our deep-rooted beliefs regarding the proper role of women in society. The connection between military service and citizenship is explicit to varying degrees in most societies - and therefore the right of women to bear arms is an issue that strikes at the heart of a society's valuation of women. 'A Soldier and a Woman' explores this controversial subject in nineteen essays spanning three centuries and four continents from the late medieval period to the present day. This collection of essays builds a picture of the practical and ideological issues surrounding women soldiers, and the ambiguous place they inhabit; in the process uncovering a remarkable continuity across cultures and periods. The female soldier raises questions of military readiness, gender identity, perceptions of the body, power structures and hierarchy, gendered symbolism and language, personal and collective identities, the power of myths, and the disjunction between equality and conformity.
A wide range of countries is surveyed including Algeria, Britain, China, France, Israel, the United States, the Soviet Union and Vietnam. As well as conventional armed conflict - such as the Thirty Years War, the Anglo-Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, and the Vietnam War - the role of women in guerilla warfare, resistance and terrorism is also examined.
Gerard J. DeGroot is Senior Lecturer and Chair in the Department of Modern History at the University of St Andrews. His many publications include Blighty: British Society in the Era of the Great War (Longman, 1996), Student Protest: The Sixties and After (Longman, 1998) and A Noble Cause? America and the Vietnam War (Longman, 1999).
Corinna Peniston-Bird is Research Fellow in the Department of History, University of Lancaster. She is also co-authoring (with Gerard J. DeGroot) Women in the Line of Fire: the Female Soldier in the Modern Military (Routledge, forthcoming). She has also published Vienna in the World Bibliographical Series (ABC-Clio, 1997).

About the Author

Gerard J. DeGroot is Senior Lecturer and Chair in the Department of Modern History at the University of St Andrews. His many publications include Blighty- British Society in the Era of the Great War (1996), Student Protest- The Sixties and After (1998) and A Noble Cause? America and the Vietnam War (1999).

Corinna Peniston-Bird is Research Fellow in the Department of History, University of Lancaster. She is also co-authoring (with Gerard J. DeGroot) Women in the Line of Fire- the Female Soldier in the Modern Military (Routledge). She has also published Vienna in the World Bibliographical Series (1997).

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0582414385
• ISBN 13: 9780582414389
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 396