Wednesday, January 6, 1999
Conference discusses role of race, gender in military
Talks connect sexual harassment to ethnicities, stereotypes
By Natasha Behbahany
Daily Bruin Contributor
Desert Storm Barbie and six-inch helicopter pilots with braids
decorated the pamphlet-filled table.
Thursday, the Center for the Study of Women hosted its
first-ever discussion on gender and the military.
The conference, titled "Militarism and National Security: The
Role of Gender," explored topics ranging from sexual harassment in
the military to issues of race and gender.
Brenda Moore, an assistant professor of sociology at State
University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, discussed the lack of
integration between gender and race in the army.
Moore, who has served in the army, described the military as a
microcosm of the whole of society.
"While the military is leading in race integration, it is
lagging in gender," Moore said.
During her presentation, Moore specifically discussed Nisei
women, first-generation Japanese-Americans whose parents immigrated
to the United States during World War II.
Due to anti-Japanese sentiment surrounding the start of WWII,
both Nisei women and men, though citizens, were not able to enlist
in the army, said Moore. After 1941, only Nisei men could enlist
while women were still excluded. "It was a definite indication of
sexism," she said.
Relationships between men and women in the army were discussed
by Laura Miller, a professor of sociology at UCLA. Miller
confronted issues surrounding sexual harassment and its connection
to race.
Miller said that within the military, African American women are
more likely to be targets of sexual harassment, but they are
usually among the ranks of the enlisted.
"There is a lesser possibility of power among the enlisted,
making African American women more susceptible (to harassment),"
Moore said. She explained that people in lower ranks are more often
harassed sexually by higher-ranked officers.
She also introduced sexual racism as a susceptibility
factor.
Moore said that African American women are stereotyped as
sexually aggressive and that "men have an interest to experience
wild sexual partners."
The issue of sexual harassment has personal meaning for Jeremiah
Ashbrook, a fourth-year UCLA English student, whose friend was
sexually harassed in the military.
"I found many of the answers to the questions regarding the
issue (of sexual harassment) very illuminating," he said.
Judith Hicks Stiehm, a political science professor at Florida
International University, was concerned with inequality between the
sexes in the military.
According to Stiehm, the U.S. military has the highest
percentage of women in the military among all nations. She argued
that because of this, women should be allowed to go into battle
just as often as men do.
"There is no public support for women in battle," she said.
The talks were not limited to domestic issues, however. Ann
Tickner, professor at the School of International Relations at USC,
discussed the role of gender in international relations and
feminist perspectives on global and national security. She also
invited many of her students to the event.
Melissa Welebir, one of Tickner’s students, said that gender is
not a dominant issue in the study of international relations, but
their class aims to analyze how different gender perspectives fit
into international relations.
Another of Tickner’s students, Yoanna Gerwel, said she found the
discussion interesting and that though she was required to attend,
she didn’t know much about the army before this discussion.
With the recent passing of Veteran’s Day, Moore said that though
the military still has a long way to go, the gap between men and
women within the military is narrowing.
"I never looked back at my military service and called myself a
veteran, (but) women are starting to identify themselves as
veterans."
"This is our day (too)."
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