Gender and the Military

I do not personally know anyone currently employed by the military. Both of my grandfathers served in our nation's military during World War II. My father's father was a member of the Air Force and spent time on duty in Europe; my mother's father was a translator for the government. My mother's father, Harold, was born and raised on an Estonian island and had to stay in Germany for two years when he and his family tried to immigrate to the United States; thus he learned the German language very well and was of use to the American government's secret intelligence during the war. I do not know too much about either of my grandfathers' service, but I think I can safely assume that the odds of my grandmothers serving in the Air Force during WWII would have been slim to none. I would also assume that the extreme trust and heavy responsibility placed upon Grandpa Harold--the work he would do was so top-secret that he never told my mother or her family specifically what kind of things he did--would not be placed upon a woman. While times have changed significantly, we still see gender and sexuality discrimination in our military today. Whether or not we do it consciously, we associate violence and muscularity with masculinity in our culture. Military symbolism is frequently used to "enhance the masculine identification and appeal of products" in American advertising, according to Jackson Katz in his article "Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity". While it is true that there are true physical differences between men and women, this is not always the case, but it seems that we have been choosing to ignore this fact. We would likely be able to find a woman in the military with physical abilities superior to at least one man. The concerns about unit cohesion with a mixed-gender group are legitimate, but the editorial I read discusses alternatives that would hopefully ease potential tensions, such as having all-female units. The media play a large role in how American society as a whole shapes their viewpoints on women in the military. There have been several stories that went viral in the media about female soldiers who claimed to have been sexually abused and the subsequent harassment that followed these claims. The media spin stories to make us pity the female and remind us of why the female is not cut out for the world of warfare. The story of the NFL star Pat Tillman's service and death was also spun by the media to be something that it was not, so we see cases of male soldiers also being objectified and portrayed as things that they are not. When it comes to military spouses, we see that the primary focus is on military wives. This perpetuates the cultural norm of soldiers being male. There are reality television shows dedicated to documenting the lives of the wives of men serving our nation and all that comes with this territory. As far as I know, we do not have such television shows dedicated to military husbands, reinforcing the idea that women still have a lot to gain in terms of their prominence in the military.

Intelligence vs. Icon

When one thinks of Marilyn Monroe, many words and images may come to mind, but "intellectual" is highly unlikely to be one of them. She is probably the most famous sex symbol in modern American history, and thoughts related to this status of hers are the most likely to be invoked when Marilyn Monroe's name is mentioned. However, since her death there have been numerous discussions regarding her intelligence that the public knew little about and that the media did not choose to make known. Neil Norman's article discusses this relatively new portrayal of Monroe "as a deep-thinking feminist icon who hid her intellect to secure fame". While Norman does not seem to agree with the "feminist" description, he does acknowledge the fact that Monroe was an intellectually curious woman, not the blonde bimbo that she was portrayed as. I feel that she hid this intelligence because she was under the impression--whether this impression is accurate or not remains ambiguous to this day--that the American public is widely attracted to the female that exudes sexuality, beauty, and other stereotypes of the ideal woman and that in order to gain a high level of fame she must fall under this stereotype. The years in which she was alive and extremely famous were of a different era than the one in which we live today. A sex icon who was intellectual and philosophical would be a rarity that would take Americans by surprise and possibly provoke negative reactions and decrease her celebrity. While women are still working to fight gender inequality prevalent in multiple areas of American society, we have made great strides when looking back on where we were during Marilyn Monroe's life in the spotlight. I believe it would be more acceptable now for a sex symbol to showcase her intellectual side without risking a decrease in popularity, but I do think there may be some female celebrities intentionally not forwardly revealing aspects of their true character even today. For example, after doing some research I have seen on multiple websites and in multiple publications that Natalie Portman is known to be one of the "smartest" celebrities in American society today. In an article found on MSN Him, Phil Boucher writes that Portman "has a psychology degree from Harvard, did post-graduate studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and is fluent in Hebrew, French and Japanese. As if that wasn't enough Natalie has also lectured in counterterrorism at Columbia University in New York and had research published in a US scientific journal within the catchily titled paper 'Frontal lobe activation during permanence: data from near-infrared spectroscopy'." Now, while this information about Portman's academic achievements is out there for anyone to read up on, I think it is safe to say that it will never be consumed by the majority of Americans who know of Natalie Portman. I did not know any of this before this assignment, and I am actually a big fan of this actress. The media is not taking pains to enlighten us with this knowledge, but it does not seem that Portman is taking pains to make it known herself from what I can make of it--although it is important to note that in high school she once said that she would "rather be smart than a movie star." Women who utilize their knowledge and are assertive in doing so tend to be called "snobby" or "bitchy," perpetuating this hesitancy to display intellect in a large arena. Gail Trimble, a 26-year-old student, was the target of this sort of criticism after dominating the competition on the televised British quiz show "University Challenge."