When Public Institutions Betray Women
Women’s entrance into those areas that have been closed for them before should become a reason for triumph. However, those areas usually create barriers to women’s participation. The authors developed a content analysis to examine characteristics and trends of newspapers that reported sexual violence in the American army and find evidence of institutionalized issues regarding the treatment of women (Bell et al., 2017). They found, sampled, and analyzed 1955 newspaper articles about sexual crimes committed in the American army. The results showed that not all of the perpetrators and victims from the reports were connected to the military, and most of the victims were women. Besides, every year, the number of articles about sexism against women in the army increases significantly if there are major sexual scandals.
The study examines a number of newspaper articles from the years 1991-2013. The connection with the original research problem is that all the materials were about sexism and sexual harassment, assault, and violence in the military. The purpose of the article was to understand when and why the number of printed stories about sexism in the army increases and who are the main victims and perpetrators.
Sexual Harassment in the Military
Despite policy initiatives and extensive research, sexism remains to be a severe issue in the army. According to Harris et al. (2018), lack of data limits the opportunity of linking individual contexts with independent measures of the environment. A survey was the method of gathering statistics of sexual harassment in the army and its influence on the environment. Randomly chosen military personnel had to respond to several questions, including the following: “Within the past 12 months, I have personally experienced an incident of sexual harassment within my current organization” (Harris et al., 2018, p. 31). The answers allowed the author to understand and estimate the current situation.
The results demonstrate that reducing sexual harassment and gender-related behavior, promoting women, and creating working environments where complaints of sexism would be responded to quickly and taken seriously, helps to mitigate sexism. The survey proved that the compositions of units by rank, ethnicity, race, and sex do not influence significantly the likelihood of sexual harassment reports (Harris et al., 2018). However, enlisted personnel, Hispanics, and women are more likely to become sexually abused and report harassment experiences in the military.
This article studies the influence of the environment on the number of sexual assaults in the military. Moreover, it provides the definition of sexism, which includes generalized sexist or sexual behaviors or comments that embarrass, degrade, or insult women or men (Harris et al., 2018). The article states that “an environment can be sexist, although the behaviors creating that situation may not constitute legally defined sexual harassment” (Harris et al., 2018, p. 28). Another connection is that the participants were asked whether they have experienced sexism in the military.
Sexual Assault Prevention in the Military
Within the U.S. military, sexual harassment and assault are still rather significant and important concerns. Since there were previous programming efforts that did not work successfully and did not change the situation for the best, the authors of this article decided to discuss sexism in the military and provide several recommendations. To achieve the results, the authors of the article gathered some statistics and information. According to Gidycz et al. (2018), “an estimated 14,881 U.S. service members experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2016, including 0.6% of men and 4.3% of women” (p. 240). As for the chosen method, the authors decided to analyze several previous studies on sexual assault prevention, define their advantages and disadvantages to find the best recommendations; there were no participants in this study.
One of the described sexism prevention programs was the Men’s Program. According to Gidycz et al. (2018), it may lower men’s acceptance of rape myth, reduce their intent to commit sexual assault, and increase their empathy for female sexism victims. However, there was no concrete evidence that this program affected the likelihood of sexual harassment (Gidycz et al., 2018). As for the recommendations, which are the results of the article, they include focusing on the entire continuum of harm, engaging leaders at all levels, and incorporating alcohol in prevention plans and assessments.
The primary connection of this article to the original research problem is the provided recommendations. Since the studying issue is sexism in the military, the prompts of how to prevent and stop discrimination in the army are rather helpful. Thereby, the article lists and analyses several previous sexism prevention programs and the main issues of the situation, which is necessary to find proper solutions.
Women, regardless
The purpose of the article was to explore men’s thoughts about their reaction to the presence of women and women’s perception of their own skills and abilities. The online survey was created to estimate those areas where gender biases may stop women from becoming successful in Army culture (Trobaugh, 2018). The survey asked the army women, for example, if they struggled and received additional help. The results showed that, generally, female soldiers’ view of their abilities was positive (Trobaugh, 2018). Furthermore, most “of those who trained women in warrior tasks reported that they trained women the same as they trained men” (Trobaugh, 2018, p. 49). Hence, the is no sexist attitude towards those military women who participated in the survey.
The article examined whether women in the army face difficulties during training or studying. The author created an online survey and asked women if they were satisfied with the situation in the military. The level of sexism, at least regarding the gender-balanced environment and equal opportunities for male and female soldiers, proved to be positive. Hence, the connection to the original problem is that the article discusses the current sexism situation in the military.
Sexism as a Predictor of Attitudes Toward Women in the Military and in Combat
There is an opinion that military-affiliated individuals’ attitude toward women in the army is much more negative than civilians’ one. The purpose of this article was to prove that “old-fashioned, modern, hostile, and benevolent sexism would each make unique contributions to the prediction of the differences in attitudes toward women in the army” (Young & Nauta, 2013, p. 167). The method of the study was an anonymous online survey, and 316 students of a medium-sized public university in the Midwest responded to it. The results proved the opinion of civilian students having a more positive attitude toward women in the military. Besides, according to Young and Nauta (2013), every of all four forms of sexism made a unique contribution to the ability to predict the attitudes toward women in the army and combat. However, the contribution of benevolent sexism was rather positive.
This article studies sexism against women in the military with the help of an online survey. There were different scales in the survey like Women in the Military, Approval of women in combat roles, and Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Young & Nauta, 2013). The authors analyzed and compared the attitudes of military-affiliated and civilian students. They studied how various forms of sexism contributed to the prediction of those attitudes.
References
Bell, K., Stein, S., & Hurley, R. (2017). When public institutions betray women: News coverage of military sexual violence against women 1991-2013. Journal of Interdisciplinary Feminist Thought, 10(1), 1-32.
Harris, R. J., McDonald, D. P., & Sparks, C. S. (2018). Sexual harassment in the military: Individual experiences, demographics, and organizational contexts. Armed Forces & Society, 44(1), 25–43.
Gidycz, C. A., Wyatt, J., Galbreath, N. W., Axelrad, S. H., & McCone, D. R. (2018). Sexual assault prevention in the military: Key issues and recommendations. Military Psychology, 30(3), 240-251.
Trobaugh, E. M. (2018). Women, regardless: Understanding gender bias in U.S. military integration. JPME Today, 88, 46-53.
Young, L. M., & Nauta, M. M. (2013). Sexism as a predictor of attitudes toward women in the military and in combat. Military Psychology, 25(2), 166–171.