Women in the Military (Special Journal Issue 1998)

This special issue of the journal Gender Issues guest-edited by Rita J. Simon explores the debates on the integration of women into our armed forces that have continued for over fifty years. These debates remain largely uninformed by historical evidence. Historicizing the debate on women and the American military since 1940 should not only inform discussions on the conditions for women's participation, but should also inform those about other marginalized groups. To bring rhetoric in line with reality, foster constructive change and design appropriate policy, these debates must move away from arguing the inclusion of specific groups on specific terms to the fundamental issues of citizenship and military obligation in a democratic society. This discussion must eventually include an analysis of the changing nature of international relations and conflict.

The issue includes the following contributions:

• Lorry M. Fenner: "Either you need these women or you do not: Informing the debate on military service and citizenship,"  pp. 5 - 32.

• Laura L. Miller: "Feminism and the exclusion of army women from combat," pp. 33 - 64.

• Mady W. Segal, David R. Segal and Patrick M. O'Malley: "Gender and the propensity to enlist in the U.S. military," pp. 65 - 87.

• Judith Hicks Stiehm: "Army opinions about women in the army," pp. 88 - 98.

• Brenda L. Moore and Schuyler C. Webb: "Equal opportunity in the U.S. Navy: perceptions of active-duty African American women," pp. 99 - 119.