US MILITARY PLACES AND SPACES AS GEOGRAPHIES OF CARE AND THE BATTLE AGAINST MILITARY SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Keywords: military culture, care, pragmatism, sexuality, neoliberalism, power
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 57

Abstract

This study asserts that, historically, the geographies of the US military have been landscapes of care, moral geographies of loyalty, trust, and sacrifice. 'Care' is not a feminist construct here, but pragmatic. Military landscapes are now disrupted by neoliberal individualism largely through the creation of sexual arenas. The mandate for and expectation of care exist structurally, codified in institutional laws, credos, oaths, and mores. Since the advent of the All-Volunteer Force, however, military women, as “others,” are often marginalized and excluded from masculinized kinship and care networks leaving them vulnerable to military sexual violence (MSV). Qualitative data were collected as transcribed interviews (n=20) and these analyzed using classical grounded theory (CGT). These data suggest that sexual scripts currently enacted in military landscapes like hooking up, violating UCMJ Article 134, Article 62 (Adultery), and engaging in ‘power sex’ degrade military order and discipline and compromise the safety of military women. Coupled with ambivalent leadership, copious alcohol consumption, and inherent transiency results in geographies that do not inhibit, but perhaps even facilitate, violence against military women. To mitigate this, ensuring leadership behaviors that foster altruism and care for fellow service members regardless of gender and rank, elimination of alcohol abuse, and the elimination of operational cross-leveling are recommended.