It's Our Military Too

Women and the U.S Military

Judith Stiehm

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781566394567, 9781566394550
• eBook ISBN: 9781439901472
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Gender Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

In the last twenty-five years the U.S. military has seen the abolition of women's separate corps, the appointment of women generals, and an unprecedented increase in the ratio of women to men. Also, women are now permitted to serve on combat planes and ships. Despite these developments, most civilians know very little about women in the military.

This collection includes unusual accounts by women on active duty, retired officers, women who have worked for the armed forces in a civilian capacity, and civilian academics. The book offers insights on a variety of pressing issues including minority women, lesbians, combat, the role of gender in weapons design, and the changing mission of the military.

Through personal accounts and commentaries, this book dispels many of the myths about women and the military and explores the reasons for the persistence of misconceptions in the face of increased female participation. This comprehensive effort will be of interest to anyone who wants to know the truth about women in the armed forces and will be a wake-up call to women who feel that the military is irrelevant to them.

Contributors: Rhonda Cornum, Virginia Solms, Billie Mitchell, Connie L. Reeves, Brenda L. Moore, Nina Richman-Loo, Rachel Weber, Lucinda Joy Peach, M. C. Devilbiss, Carol Burke, Susan Jeffords, Miriam Cooke.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• PART I VOICES AND FACTS
• PART II HISTORY AND ISSUES
• PART III REFLECTION AND SPECULATION
• About the Contributors
• Index