Birthing a third gender: The discourse of women in the American military

This study of American women veterans' experiences centers on the discourse of nationalism, gender identity and the representation of women veterans in private and public texts. Media representation of women in combat in the Persian Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, including an analysis of the detainee scandals, is examined to argue that American national discourse is under revision. The women's participation reflects both complicity and capability in the violence of war as well as a symbolic reinscription of the military/state away from solely masculine connotations. Narrative and media texts are analyzed to study the ways in which women construct and conduct gender identity in arguably the most masculinized work environment in American culture. This research reveals that women effectively enact a third gender as they strive in the military hierarchy to achieve professional legitimation and the full rights of citizenship.