The Military: Is it Threatening Masculinity?

Women in the military is a hot topic lately. In fact, women issues in general is a hot topic. Is masculinity threatened by women in military? Military masculinity is pushed in the media as a male-dominated job. TV shows, movies, toys, and about 90% of military marketing show men as the face of the military. Could the fact that the military changing their standards to slowly include equality for women, challenge stereotypical military masculinity? Some people think so. Masculinity is not something that is strictly expected of men. Women can be masculine as well- and not be homosexual. “Masculinity is not the actual different between heterosexuality and homosexuality, but the linguistic acts of attempting to separate them (Reeser, 38).” Masculinity should not be something so feared by women and protected men. If we all just realized that men and women can both share the trait, and also succeed in the military, and stop harassing and fighting each other, maybe equality would not be such a complicated issue to resolve.

Here are some great links on the policies, changes and information about women in the military:

http://www.military.com/topics/women-in-the-military

http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/careers/army/2015/03/04/women-in-special-operations/24366457/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/04/16/opinion-its-time-to-reevaluate-standards-for-women-in-the-military/

Reeser, Todd W. Masculinities in Theory: An Introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.