Making military and veteran women (in)visible: The continuity of gendered experiences in military-to-civilian transition
APA Citation:
Eichler, M. (2021). Making military and veteran women (in)visible: The continuity of gendered experiences in military-to-civilian transition. Journal of Military, Veteran, and Family Health, 8(s1), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.3138/jmvfh-2021-0077
Focus:
Veterans
Branch of Service:
International Military
Air Force
Army
Navy
Multiple branches
Military Affiliation:
Veteran
Reserve
Subject Affiliation:
Veteran
Guard/Reserve member
Active duty service member
Population:
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)
Methodology:
Qualitative Study
Authors:
Eichler, Maya
Abstract:
LAY SUMMARY This study explores how gender and sex shape the military-to-civilian transition (MCT) for women. Thirty-three Canadian women Veterans were interviewed about their military service and post-military life. MCT research often emphasizes discontinuities between military and civilian life, but women’s accounts highlight continuities in gendered experiences. Military women are expected to fit the male norm and masculine ideal of the military member during service, but they are rarely recognized as Veterans after service. Women experience invisibility as military member and Veterans and simultaneously hypervisibility as (ex)military women who do not fit military or civilian gender norms. Gendered expectations of women as spouses and mothers exert an undue burden on them as serving members and as Veterans undergoing MCT. Women encounter care and support systems set up on the normative assumption of the military and Veteran man supported by a female spouse. The study findings point to a needed re-design of military and Veteran systems to remove sex and gender biases and better respond to the sex- and gender-specific MCT needs of women.
Publisher/Sponsoring Organization:
University of Tornto Press
Publication Type:
Article
Author Affiliation:
Centre for Social Innovation and Community Engagement in Military Affairs, Mount Saint Vincent University, ME
Keywords:
gender, health, military-to-civilian transition, sex, transition, veterans, women
Sponsors:
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Grant