Gendering the “Soldier”: Phallogocentrism and U.S. Military Discourse

Abstract

The gendered construction of the term “soldier” within U.S. military discourse systematically denies female soldiers’ full access to this identity and places them outside membership in the fraternity of the “band of brothers”. Drawing on the concept of phallogocentrism – a linguistic framework privileging the masculine – this analysis demonstrates how everyday military discourse reinforces the male-centred view of the “soldier” as inherently masculine and marks women as the “other”. By examining first person prose and poetry by female soldiers the article examines the subtle and not so subtle ways in which female soldiers are linguistically marginalized and portrayed as exceptions or deviations from the normative “soldier” archetype. This exclusionary discourse not only undermines the legitimacy of women in combat roles but also makes them vulnerable to misogynist abuse and sexual assault. These first-person narratives draw attention to the contradictory position occupied by “woman warriors” as both the bearers of violence through guns, but also the potential subjects of violence from within the military itself.

Keywords

• phallogocentrism
• gender
• us military
• female soldiers
• sexual assault