The 's War : Making Feminist Sense Of The Iraq War

J.G. Sime’s short story “Munitions” utilizes a limited omniscient narrative, metaphors, and imagery to demonstrate how World War I contributed to the liberation of North American women from patriarchal gender roles such as housewifery, and the unity among these newly emancipated women. The limited omniscient narrative allows readers to understand the limited opportunities for women before the war, while maintaining hope for a more eclectic future. The narrative also reveals the changing sexual codes for women as a result of independence, the internalized misogyny that forced patriarchal gender roles creates, and how when these roles are eradicated, women become supportive of one another. Sime employs the season of spring and Bertha’s name as metaphors of new beginnings for women. The bright imagery also reveals optimistic future opportunities for women, while contrasting, dark images expose the restricted lives of women before the war.

In The Things We Carried, We learned that men are not the only one’s that have part of the war but, also that women are part of the war as well. Have you ever thought that you as a women ever wanted to be part of the war? To want everyone in the world believe that a women can also be apart of the war? Well to demonstrate to you there are three young courageous women in The Things They Carried, that want us women to become apart of the war. Back in the 1950’s women had rights to be in the war and to help take care of men that were wounded severely.

In Our Mother’s War, Emily Yellin provides a compelling and eye-opening account of the many roles of women during World War II. Our Mother’s War was inspired by Yellin’s mother, Carol Lynn, who had lived through World War II and had been a Red Cross volunteer in the Pacific. After Yellin’s mother had died, Yellin had came upon an old manila envelope which contained many of her mother’s letters and dairy. Through these writings, Yellin realized for the first time the sacrifices women made for the war, and after being inspired to know more about the roles of women during World War II, she set out on a mission to unearth stories which have never been displayed before. Being a journalist and daughter of a World War II woman uniquely qualified Yellin to paint a vivid picture of the accounts of women during the war. through the use of letters and writings.

In the book Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence, Carol Berkin examines the revolutionary war putting more focus on the diverse role of women from all cultures, ethnicity, and classes in the battle for independence which lasted for about 8 years. The war did not acknowledge the gap between home front and battlefield (Berkin, 2005). The author of this book examines this war based on the views of women who were willingly or unwillingly caught at the hub of a violent conflict. This essay examines how women exercise their limited political power to assist their preferred political side through the course of the revolutionary efforts.

“Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence” is neither a romantic tale nor an attempt to revise traditional history by making women the pivotal players in war for independence. It does not tell one woman’s story, but many, and not all of those stories end in victory or triumph. The book examines a revolution, or war, that is blurred between the battlefield and the home front. It views the struggle of war through the eyes of women who found themselves willingly and unwillingly, at the center of a prolonged violent conflict.

This is a significant body of work that focuses on the historical facts about how these women had the courage to step into these roles, trying to not be found out by others. They could not be themselves, but had to consume another identity in order to survive. Hall has examined the gender lens thoroughly, depicting these women as going above and beyond the call of war. He discusses that some women’s identities were discovered, but others died with secret. Hall’s purpose is clear, his intent is to separate fact from

Many question women’s overall mental ability to handle the extreme circumstances during war. But the truth of the matter is that no human is immune to mental effects and trauma (Sisters in Arms). According to former Marine officer Jane Blair,“Post-traumatic stress disorder is an unfortunate consequence of war, especially for those who have served multiple deployments — and sadly, no gender is immune to it (Blair).” Blair makes a very clear argument about how men and women are all human and that we are all subject to discomfort from conscious decisions. Troops, whether it be male or female have no control over their mental state after seeing some of the harsh effects of war, whether it be a fallen friend in their batoon, or having to take the life of an innocent child in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things like this can have a powerful effect on any person, no matter their gender.

In the essay, “In the Combat Zone,” Leslie Marmon Silko writes for the purpose of explaining the hardships that women go through in their everyday lives, that men do not necessarily have to worry about. Through personal stories about her growing up with her father who taught her how to use guns and hunt, to actual encounters with dangerous men who could’ve potentially harmed her had she not been experienced, Silko provides real life examples of the dangers women face in their everyday lives. Women are at risk whenever they leave the safety of their home, and even may be at risk in their home as well. Being raised to depend on others for protection leaves women vulnerable to attacks that leave them defenseless. This is different than men who are raised in a way that gives them power and essentially puts them above women and eliminates this fear. We see this theme on page 734 when Silko writes, “Men who have been in combat know the feeling of being a predator’s target, but it is difficult to men to admit admit that we women live our entire lives in a combat zone.”

One study (Binkin & Bach) found that many NATO and several WARSAW PACT countries employed women in combat roles during World War II. Russia was reported as using military women on the front lines. In Israel, where they are actually conscripted, women have also experienced armed combat. (Binkin & Bach) found that in the first phase of Israel’s war of Liberation, one out of every five soldiers was female and they shared equality in both offensive and defensive battle situations. Holm found that some 7,500 military women served in S.E. Asia during the Vietnam War. She maintains that these women proved the modern American military woman is fully capable of functioning effectively in a military role in a combat environment, even under direct hostile fire.

Men achieve better roles above women when it comes to being in combat and women do not stand a chance against them. . Lisa Grossman states in her article, "The Right to Fight: Women at War," how combat roles are now open to women. Grossman states that, “Even among soldiers, women on average have about 30 percent less muscle strength and 15 to 30 percent less aerobic capacity than men” ( Grossman n.p.). An argument that is being used against opening combat roles to women is that they just do not have the strength to succeed. Statistically, men have a larger muscle mass, so women do not stand a chance on the physical strength portions of training. Some people are concerned that difference in physical strength may put teams at risk, or that women

The creation of YPJ/YJA-STAR women guerilla units within the PKK ideology creates a sense of freedom and a step towards liberation. It could be noted that the transformation of gender roles within the Kurdish community, has transformed the appearance of the eastern women as no longer the oppressed victim, in which today the Kurdish female fighters are “presented as a novel phenomenon (Dirik, 2015).” Conversely, the Kurdish women’s freedom movement has been appealing in the field of war since the 19th century, in which the world has largely ignored. The intensification of the Kurdish female fighters in the movement can be understood as a reaction against the western world, as it believes that “imperialist states use this as a justification to

Laura Sjoberg in her writings, 'In Gendering global conflict: towards a feminist theory of war', claims, “war cannot be understood without considering gender as a primary unit of analysis (Foster, 2014).” She further claims, “War is constituted by and constitutes gender and that gendering is a fundamental cause of war as well as a critical aspect (Sjoberg, 2013, p. 9).” In this extract, Sjoberg claims that gender and war are both patriarchy constructed, and the feminist approach to this studies should be acknowledging as a strength in which recognises the role of gender played in war. It is important to outline that the state, and war is a key culprit in the exploitation and control. The understanding of the nation-state intervention, and mainstream

In the first section of the Chapter One, I wish to explore the historical background of the Kurds, and especially women, by strictly focusing on the Northern, and Western Kurds. I believe it is essential to understand and make my case clear relating the difficulties of women in war, not only challenging the gender militarization, and the challenge it witnessed within the freedom movement. In the second section of Chapter One, I have outlined crucial the role and the ideology of PKK because it merely offers female fighters an escape from their patriarchal family structure, and a higher status. The notion of women in war can be viewed as radical as being accepted as equal to some male fighters. I want to explore the entry of women in the field

In Women in the Military, Janette Mance explores the debates and problems faced by the increasing number of women involved in the military. After examining issues such as pregnancy, sexual harassment, and rape, Mance concludes that as a society we must continue to strive for gender equality.

War, a word that often describes the aftermath of a disagreement tends to often become a topic of conversation amongst Americans today. Since the founding of our fathers we have faced ample amounts of conflict. Justice amongst these circumstances is not easy to reach, sacrifices had been made and will continue to until the conclusion is met. While their loved ones are away, the families of the fighting soldiers face daily obstacles. These sacrifices often become overlooked and taken for granted. Women have always played an important role in the success of family life and the well being of our country under these circumstances; through the years, these tasks have ranged from work on the assembly lines to performing seamstress duties for a soldier’s uniform. Without this unwarranted support, we’d be at a loss during these disheartening times.