Sexing the Soldier: The Politics of Gender and the Contemporary British Army

Sexing the Soldier takes a critical look at the policies and practices that shape gender relations and identities in the contemporary British Army, and the political and practical consequences of this. Drawing on original research, this informative volume discusses how being a soldier in the Army is influenced by discourses on gender that promote specific ideas about what men and women are, what they do and what they can be. The book examines: the history and structure of the British Army as a masculine institution; personnel policies that deal with gender issues; practices through which military gender identities are developed and examined in order to understand how military masculinities are performed, consolidated and reproduced; ways in which popular culture contributes towards a shared understanding of the gender politics of the Army.

Rachel Woodward is Reader in Critical Geography at Newcastle University Trish Winter is Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Sunderland