Particular accepted gender roles are enforced throughout peacetime and war, often with violent consequences. Initially this essay will explore the meaning behind gendered roles, their creation, and their importance in modern society. Using a case study of the conflict and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this essay will then investigate the prevalence of sexual violence in war.
Gender is a social construct and does exist independently. It is an invention of society that dictates what is ‘masculine’ and what is ‘feminine’. Cultural practices and norms further permeate the construct of gender, with stereotypes and the dictation by media and governing bodies regarding how the sexes should identify. Gender associates ‘feminine’ with female, and ‘masculine’ with male, and suggests that these characteristics should be sex-exclusive. Female and male are, themselves, constructed at birth on the basis of the child’s genitals; intersex children are frequently subjected to physical change in an attempt to ‘organize’ them into a particular social category. Gender dictates the roles humans are to play in society, and thus children are taught from an early age the accepted characteristics of their gender. In adulthood, the teaching appears to continue, as a plethora of media outlets and a variety of social discourses outline the behavior that those of a particular gender must exhibit. Social depiction of gender dictates what hobbies we should pursue, how we communicate with others, the type of work we’re supposed to do, and even the sex we should be attracted to.
Creating a hierarchy in society is only possible if there are points of difference between people, and thus particular physical elements of a human are chosen and signi...
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...pon the subordinate, and to highlight the dominance of the masculine over the feminine.
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In 1996, Captain Derrick Robinson, Sergeant Delmar Simpson, and Sergeant Nathanael Beech were arraigned for their suspected involvement in one of the biggest sex scandals the United States Military had seen. According to CNN, between these three men, charges of rape and adultery were pending in a huge case of sexual misconduct against female soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland (CNN, 2996). Following this incident, the United States Military took it upon themselves to open a telephone hotline to encourage the reporting of similar harsh crimes. Furthermore, the spike in reporting influenced extensive research to examine the prevalence of rape against women soldiers in the U.S. Military (Titunik, 2000). This paper will explore the dynamics of rape against women soldiers in the military and the research done on its prevalence.
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The purpose of Carol Cohn’s article “Women in War” is to explain why women have been kept out of the subject of war although they have played many vital roles. Cohn argues, that because of the gender coding of characteristics, institutions such as the military have been established in such a way that not only rejects characteristics of femininity but also preserves masculinity. Cohn employs logic, fact and the reasoning of experts in their own respective fields to answer why there is such a separation between the military and women.
“‘Instrumental’ violence, however, murder for a purpose, - political power, rape, sadistic pleasure, robbery, or some other base gratification – remains the domain of the male. After all, every male is a potential killer in the form of a warrior – and he only becomes a murderer when he misuses his innate physical and socialized capacity to kill for ignoble, immoral, and impolitic reason. While the male is built and programmed to destroy, the female nests, creates, and nurtures. Or so the story goes”.
Ode, Kim. "Sexual Trauma: Women Vets' Secret War." ProQuest, 18 Dec. 2010. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.
These acts of sexually driven terror violated both females and males from victim ethnic groups and exposed the gendered roles and behaviours produced from the structures of Yugoslavian society. These include the honour/shame complex highlighting patriarchal gender relations and the objectification of women's bodies as ‘boundaries of the nation' due to their reproductive, nurturing and preserving powers. Nevertheless, the manner in which these notions of patriotic masculinity were exhibited defined wartime male gender roles as ‘tough, dominant and heterosexual' (Skjelsbaek 2001) yet simultaneously reinforced the ‘pre-existing social dynamics and cultural meanings' (Olujic 1998) of peacetime female gender roles.
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Zurbriggen, E. (). Rape, War, And The Socialization of Masculinity: Why Our Refusal To Give Up Was Ensures That Rape Cannot Be Eradicated. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 538-539
“The sweetly sickening odor of decomposing bodies hung over many parts of Rwanda in July 1994: . . . at Nyarubuye in eastern Rwanda, where the cadaver of a little girl, otherwise intact, had been flattened by passing vehicles to the thinness of cardboard in front of the church steps,” (Deforges 6). The normalcy of horrible images like this one had cast a depressing gloom over Rwanda during the genocide, a time when an extreme divide caused mass killings of Tutsi by the Hutu. Many tactics such as physical assault or hate propaganda are well known and often used during times of war. Sexual assault and rape, however, during times of war is an unspoken secret – it is well known that rape occurs within combat zones and occupied territories, but people tend to ignore, or even worse, not speak of the act. There have been recorded cases of rape and sexual assault in almost every war in human history. Genocidal rape was used as a gendered war tactic in the Rwandan genocide in order to accomplish the Hutu goal of elimination of the Tutsi people in whole, or part.
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It is thus possible to question why, despite a clear history of women proving that they are as capable of violence as men, do female terrorists still appear as shocking and defying the conventional norms of gender roles? Why are our perceptions of gender roles not evolving? To what extent are these visions of the world influenced by the State and political discourses? Has patriarchy a role to play in sustaining this myth of peaceful women and violent men? This dissertation will aim to answer these questions by analyzing counterterrorism discourses and exploring the extent to which they not only exacerbate, but most importantly are built upon social constructs about war, masculinities and femininities.
“Such an approach helps focus attention on current and emerging threats to the security and well-being of individuals and communities” (UN 2014). Moreover, women are important when it comes to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps, and peacekeeping operations, as well as reconstructing war-torn societies (UNIFEM 2004). A Feminist’s perspective in security studies challenges the focus on military solutions and pushes attention towards addressing structural problems, additionally, they believe in prevention rather than intervention; e.g. civilian solutions rather than military solutions. Feminist’s goals are to resolve issues within the state first. They try to identify the collective needs of the human kind. Human security helps one understand how gender and violence relate. The indication of human security allowed UNIFEM and UN women to work in post-conflict situations which brought people to work together in humanitarian affairs, development, and unquestionably security. Involving more women in International Relations could be a better influence for the world and have positive results but only if both genders
The Institute for Inclusive Security. (2009). Strategies for Policymakers: Bringing Women Into Peace Negotiations, (2), 1–24.
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.
Peterson, V., & Runyan, A. S. (1999). Global Gender Issues: Dilemmas in World Politics. Boulder: Westview Press.