This article examines men’s attitudes towards women in the Norwegian and US armed forces. The military is one of society’s most gendered institutions, and this study investigates how men in the armed forces feel about serving alongside women. Building on interviews with 34 men in the Norwegian and US air forces, the article finds that men in both countries have a positive attitude towards female service members, and that the majority prefer to serve in gender-mixed units. When discussing their attitudes on more concrete topics, however, the participants employed two different concepts of equality. The Norwegian men argued for the importance of equal treatment of men and women, while the American men thought it was more important to create equal opportunities for women in the armed forces. These different understandings are embedded in the two national cultures, which provide the men with the different cultural resources they relied on to frame their opinions.
AukrustVGSnowCE (1998) Narratives and explanations during mealtime conversations in Norway and the U.S. Language in Society27(2): 221–246.
2.
BoldryJWoodWKashyDA (2001) Gender stereotypes and the evaluation of men and women in military training. Journal of Social Issues57(4): 689–705.
3.
BurrelliD (1996) Women in the Armed Forces. Report, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division, USA, December. Available at: http://www.fas.org/man/crs/92-008.htm
4.
CarreirasH (2002) Women in the Portuguese armed forces: From visibility to ‘eclipse’. Current Sociology50(5): 687–705.
5.
CarreirasH (2006) Gender and the Military: Women in the Armed Forces of Western Democracies. London: Routledge.
6.
CohnC (2000) ‘How can she claim equal rights when she doesn’t have to do as many push-ups as I do?’ The framing of men’s opposition to women’s equality in the military. Men & Masculinities3(2): 131–151.
7.
CokerC (2001) Humane Warfare. London: Routledge.
8.
CresswellJW (2006) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches. London: Sage.
9.
DarYKimhiS (2004) Youth in the military: Gendered experiences in the conscript service in the Israeli army. Armed Forces & Society30(3): 433–459.
10.
Doo-SeungH (2002) Women in the South Korean military. Current Sociology50(5): 729–743.
11.
DrakeMJ (2006) Ambivalence at the academies: Attitudes toward women in the military at the federal service academies. Social Thought and Research, 27: 43–68.
12.
DunivinKO (1994) Military culture: Change and continuity. Armed Forces & Society20(4): 531–547.
13.
ElshtainJB (1987) Women and War. New York: Basic Books.
14.
EstradaAXBerggrenAW (2009) Sexual harassment and its impact for women officers and cadets in the Swedish armed forces. Military Psychology21(2): 162–185.
15.
FennerLdeYoungM (2001) Women in Combat: Civic Duty or Military Liability?Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
16.
FirestoneJM (1987) Sex-appropriate roles: Comparing the attitudes of civilian and military youth. Population Research and Policy Review6(3): 275–296.
17.
FogJ (2004) Med samtalen som udgangspunkt: det kvalitative forskiningsinterview. [The talk as an outset: the qualitative research interview]. København: Akademisk Forlag.
18.
ForsvaretsMediesenter (2010) Jenter i Forsvaret fra A til Å [Girls in the armed forces from A to Z] (leaflet). Oslo: Forsvarets mediesenter.
19.
GoldsteinJS (2004) War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
20.
GraubardSR (1986) Norden: The Passion for Equality. Oslo: Norwegian University Press.
21.
HaalandTL (2008) Invisible women and friendly war-fighters: Perceptions of gender and masculinities in the Norwegian Armed Forces. Nordic Journal for Masculinity Studies3(2): 167–181.
22.
HarrellMCMillerLL (1997) New Opportunities for Military Women. Effects Upon Readiness, Cohesion, and Morale. Report for the RAND Corporation. Report no. MR-896-OSD, RAND Corporation.
23.
HarsvikM (2010) Kom igjen gutta. En sosialantropologisk studie av forskjeller blant soldater i Hans Majestet Kongens Garde [Come on, boys. An anthropological study of differences among soldiers in the Royal Guard]. Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, Norway.
24.
HeineckenL (2002) Affirming gender equality: The challenges facing the South African armed forces. Current Sociology50(5): 715–728.
25.
HellumN (2010) Med bein i nesa: en antropologisk studie av kjønnsproblematikk på minesveiperen KNM Otra. [With bone in your nose. An anthropological study of gender issues aboard the mine sweeper KNM Otra]. Report no. 2010/00030, Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt. Kjeller, Norway.
26.
HerbertMS (1994) Feminism, militarism, and attitudes toward the role of women in the military. Feminist Issues14(2): 25–48.
27.
HurrellRMLukensJH (1994) Attitudes toward women in the military during the Persian Gulf war. Perceptual & Motor Skills78(1): 99–104.
28.
IskraDM (2007) Attitudes toward expanding roles for navy women at sea. Armed Forces & Society33(2): 203–223.
29.
IvarssonSEstradaAXBerggrenAW (2005) Understanding men’s attitudes toward women in the Swedish armed forces. Military Psychology17(4): 269–282.
30.
Kennedy-PipeC (2000) Women and the military. Journal of Strategic Studies23(4): 32–50.
31.
KielAC (1993) Continuity and Change: Aspects of Contemporary Norway. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
32.
KurpiusSELucartAL (2000) Military and civilian undergraduates: Attitudes toward women, masculinity, and authoritarianism. Sex Roles43(3–4): 255–265
33.
KümmelG (2002) Complete access: Women in the Bundeswehr and male ambivalence. Armed Forces & Society28(4): 555–573.
34.
LahelmaE (2005) Finding communalities, making differences, performing masculinities: Reflections of young men on military service. Gender & Education17(3): 305–317.
35.
LamontM (1992) Money, Morals and Manners: The Culture of the French and American Upper-Middle Class. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
36.
LamontM (2000a) The Dignity of Working Men: Morality and the Boundaries of Race, Class, and Immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
37.
LamontM (2000b) The rhetorics of racism and anti-racism in France and the United States. In: LamontMThévenotL (eds) Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 25–56.
38.
LamontMThévenotL (2000) Introduction: Toward a renewed comparative cultural sociology. In: LamontMThévenotL (eds) Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1–25.
39.
LauritzenTLeirvikBSchankeTEllingesenA (2009) ‘Vi er ikke sånne jente-jenter’. [We are not such girly-girls]. Første underveisnotat fra ‘Forskning på årskull’ med resultater fra intervjuer med vernepliktige, befal og vervede. Report no. 09/2009, Østlandsforskning. Lillehammer.
40.
LiX (1993) Chinese women in the People’s Liberation Army: Professionals or quasi-professionals?Armed Forces & Society20(1): 69–83.
41.
LipsetSM (1996) American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword. New York: W. W. Norton.
42.
MartinML (1982) From periphery to center: Women in the French military. Armed Forces & Society8(2): 303–333.
43.
MillerLL (1997) Not just weapons of the weak: Gender harassment as a form of protest for army men. Social Psychology Quarterly60(1): 32–51.
44.
MitchellB (1997) Women in the Military: Flirting With Disaster. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Press.
45.
RosenLNDurandDBBliesePDHalversonRRRothbergJMHarrisonNL (1996) Cohesion and readiness in gender-integrated combat service support units: The impact of acceptance of women and gender ratio. Armed Forces & Society22(4): 537–553.
46.
RosenLNKnudsonKHFancherP (2003) Cohesion and the culture of hypermasculinity in U.S. Army units. Armed Forces & Society29(3): 325–351.
47.
SandemoseA (1962) En flyktning krysser sitt spor: Espen Arnakkes kommentarer til Janteloven. Oslo: Aschehoug.
48.
Sasson-LevyO (2003) Feminism and military gender practices: Israeli women soldiers in ‘masculine’ roles. Sociological Inquiry73(3): 440–465.
49.
SchjølsetA (2010) NATO and the women: Exploring the gender gap in the armed forces. Report, Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norway.
50.
SegalMW (1995) Women’s military roles cross-nationally: Past, present, and future. Gender and Society9(6): 757–775.
51.
SilvaJM (2008) A new generation of women? How female ROTC cadets negotiate the tension between masculine military culture and traditional femininity. Social Forces87(2): 937–960.
52.
SilvermanD (2001) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for Analysing Talk, Tex and Interaction: Methods for Analyzing Talk, Text and Interaction. London: Sage.
53.
SkarpenesOSakslindR (2010) Education and egalitarianism: The culture of the Norwegian middle class. Sociological Review58(2): 219–243.
54.
StiehmJH (1998) Army opinions about women in the army. Gender Issues16(3): 88–98.
55.
SvallforsS (1997) Worlds of welfare and attitudes to redistribution: A comparison of eight Western nations. European Sociological Review13(3): 283–304.
56.
SwidlerA (1986) Culture in action: Symbols and strategies. American Sociological Review51(2): 273–286.
57.
SwidlerA (2001) Talk of Love: How Culture Matters. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
58.
TitunikRF (2000) The first wave: Gender integration and military culture. Armed Forces & Society26(2): 229–257.
59.
TotlandOM (2009) Det operative felleskapet. En sosialantropoligisk studie av kropp, kjønn og identitet blant norske soldater i Telemark Bataljonen [The operative community. An anthropological study of body, gender and identity among Norwegian soldiers on Telemark Battalion]. Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, Norway.
