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Abstract

Recruiting and retaining female military personnel remains a challenge in most military organizations. This study explores how female-specific transitional stages in life (e.g., maternity and menopause) relate to the career development of women in the military from their perspective. Drawing on a qualitative interview study with 20 women, we demonstrate how they adjust themselves to the masculine norms of the organizational culture in all life stages during their careers. Our contribution outlines the practices of overperformance in which these women engage and the practices of (self-)silencing during different life and career stages, which can result in the reproduction of gender inequalities within the Netherlands Armed Forces.

Keywords

women in the military life stages armed forces gendered organizations career development overperformance (self-)silencing

Introduction

In 2021, the average percentage of women in the military in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries was 12% (NATO Annual Report, 2022). In the Netherlands Armed Forces (NAF) in 2021, the percentage of female military personnel was approximately 11%. NATO members intend to increase the percentage of women in the military (Graf & Kuemmel, 2022) and are actively seeking to recruit and retain more women in all military ranks. Nevertheless, research demonstrates that despite affirmative actions such as a female quota, many women prematurely leave the military (Reis & Menezes, 2020; Scheltzer & Smith, 2014), or they switch to military staff positions or “take off their uniforms” and start working as civilians within the NAF.

The armed forces are a masculine-typed organization characterized by a traditional set of norms associated with masculinity (Pendlebury, 2018; Portillo et al., 2021; Spijkers et al., 2024). The armed forces are driven by values such as competitiveness, dominance, and physical strength (Acker, 1990; Crowley & Sandhoff, 2017; Santos et al., 2022). Their organizational culture is often based on either forced assimilation or exclusion of those who are perceived as deviating from masculinity (Malmio, 2022; Tharion et al., 2022; Vaara et al., 2016).

A few studies dedicated to women in the military conclude that women are expected to conform to the masculine norms, including demonstration of physical strength, authority, and power (Eichler, 2022; Fine et al., 2020; Santos et al., 2022). Their behavior therefore may be put under a magnifying glass (Spijkers et al., 2024).

So far there has been little research done that explores how female military personnel manage the organizational culture of the armed forces, especially where gender- and sex-related differences are concerned.

We define sex as a set of biological characteristics that categorize people as men, women, or intersex individuals based on genetics, hormonal systems, or genitalia (secondary sex characteristics). Gender is understood as roles, norms, tasks, and characteristics assigned to men and women in a given context and time, and hence, defined as a social construction (Tannenbaum et al., 2016; Williams et al., 2024). Despite this distinction between sex and gender, the biological and the socio-cultural are closely interrelated (Heidari et al., 2016; Tannenbaum et al., 2016). Gender informs identities and interpersonal relationships. It influences organizational cultures and societal institutions, for instance, by segregating labor markets across gender (Connell, 2012). Gendered organizations such as the armed forces, where employees’ bodies are literally in the frontline, cannot be adequately understood unless the role of gender and sex is taken into account (Britton, 2000).

A substantial knowledge gap exists in research about how the bodies and lives of the female military personnel can fit the objectives and actions of organizations like the armed forces. For women, biological characteristics of their bodies may be viewed as an obstacle for having to comply with a masculine-typed organization (Chua, 2022; Koeszegi et al., 2014). Arguments against full integration of women in the military display widely held beliefs (that women are physically and psychologically weaker than men and specific female conditions like menstruation and maternity would possibly decrease combat effectiveness (Cohn, 2000; Koeszegi et al., 2014). Therefore, co-workers may test women in particular to see whether she fits in with the group, expect her to prove she is “one of the guys,” and check how likely it is that she will “raise a fuss” about the way things are done (Meyerson & Scully, 2008; Tharion et al., 2022).

At the same time, literature illustrates that women want to be seen and accepted as soldiers, not as different types of persons or as a second-hand category in military service (Crowley & Sandhoff, 2017; Koeszegi et al., 2014; Nuciari, 2007). Even though women in military service “do masculinity,” their female bodies may demand specific attention during female-specific transition stages over their life course. All female-specific transitional stages coincide with women’s working lives, which is why we cannot study, understand, and facilitate women’s working lives without taking women’s life course and health into consideration. Nowadays, more Dutch women remain in the labor market after giving birth, women are on average older than before when they have their first child, and early-mid-career stages and mid-late career stages run parallel with maternity and menopause (Grandey et al., 2019).

Grandey et al. (2019) describe these stages as the ‘three Ms.’: menstruation, that is, premenstrual fluctuations and monthly periods, maternity, that is, prenatal bodily change and postnatal lactation, and menopause, that is, peri-menopausal changes and cessation of the menstrual cycle. These authors connect the Ms. with the stages in career development. Physical changes related to the transitional stages may affect women’s “doing masculinity” and possibly women’s careers in male-dominated, gendered organizations.

Several studies have focused on the experiences of female military personnel with specific transitional phases, including menstruation (Chua, 2022; Stern, 2022), maternity (Lobst et al., 2021; Stern, 2022), and menopause (Snowball, 2004; Verstegen & van Baarle, 2025), and only a few empirical studies paid attention to all these female-specific life stages (Boniol et al., 2019; Lee-Koo, 2020; Waruszynski et al., 2019). To our knowledge, there has been no research published about the sustainable employability of the women in the military in relation to the specific female transitional stages in their life course. Our article aims to fill this gap.

We use a life course approach to look at the transitional stages in women’s lives integrally while recognizing that not all women within the NAF pass through the life stages in similar ways. Based on feminist and life course research approaches, we shall use the concept of the life course, which contains the sex- and gender-specific transitional stages menstruation, maternity, and menopause (Grandey et al., 2019; G. Jack et al., 2019; Shrier & Shrier, 2009). These transitional life stages are conditioned by biological characteristics of the female body (Chua, 2022; Grandey et al., 2019). To ensure sustainable employment of the female military personnel throughout their life course, we need to gain insight into the challenges these women face while experiencing female-specific life stages and related health issues.

The objective of this study is to explore how female military personnel experience female-specific transitional stages in life during their military careers. In this study, we focus on female military personnel in the NAF and women veterans and their experiences with female life stages during their military careers.

Methodology

Given the scarcity of empirical research on female military personnel’s’ experiences with the impact of transitional life stages on their careers, we opted for a qualitative interview study. We conducted 20 semistructured interviews with military women and women veterans. The qualitative methodology allows us to directly explore the experiences of women working in the NAF by paying attention to their life course, health, and career development.

The research team consisted of four female researchers with various professional backgrounds in HR, gender studies, occupational psychology, medical ethics, military ethics, and gender and aging studies. Two of us work in the NAF and two others in various Dutch academic organizations. The research team had monthly meetings, during which we reflected on the process of research, the results of the analysis, discussed the possible biases based on our personal experiences, and reached consensus over the interpretation of the data (researcher triangulation) (Carter et al., 2014).

Interviewees and Data Collection

Military women and women veterans were interviewed between December 2020 and February 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 7 interviews were held face-to-face, 1 by telephone, and 12 online (for information about interviewees see Table 1). Interviews lasted between 45 minutes and 90 minutes and were conducted by the first author.

Table 1

Age, maternity and menopause of participants.

Interviewees	Age < 45	Age > 45	Maternity in NAF	Menopause in NAF	Veteran
Officers	5	5	7	5	2
A		X		X
B		X	X	X	X
C	X		X
D	X		X		X
E	X		X
F		X	X	X
G		X	X	X
H		X		X
I	X
J	X		X
Noncommissioned officers	6	4	9	4	0
K		X	X	X
L		X	X	X
M	X		X
N	X		X
O	X		X
P	X		X
Q		X	X	X
R		X		X
S	X		X
T	X		X

The selection criteria were military female personnel and veterans, both officers and noncommissioned officers, who had experiences with maternity and/or menopause (purposive sampling). After widely sharing information about the project through the organization, two women contacted the interviewer; they fitted the research criteria and were not hierarchically connected to the interviewer. Hence, they were interviewed first. Next, they spread information about the study to other possible participants who responded to the invitation letter by email. Before engaging with participants, the voluntary nature of participation was emphasized. Participants were informed about the aim of the study and could stop their participation at any time or have the interview deleted. They gave consent for audio recording during the interviews. Interview transcripts were anonymized for reasons of confidentiality.

The initial topic list (Taylor, 2005) contained six main topics: women’s motivation to choose a military career; experiences with physical exercises; bodily experiences like menstruation, maternity, or menopause in relation to their tasks; relationships with their superiors; support of colleagues where female-specific life stages are concerned. After six interviews, the research team elaborated on the field notes taken by the first author and added “medical care” and “lactation” to the topic list.

Ethical Considerations

This study was evaluated by the Medical Ethical Review Committee of Amsterdam University Medical Center, location VUmc (2021.0761 date 1-5-2022). This study does not fall under the Dutch Medical Research involving Human Subjects Act and related regulations (www.english.ccmo.nl). Transcripts were anonymized, and audio files and transcripts are stored anonymously on a secured server at NAF. All participants have signed the informed consent forms. The transcripts have been sent for member checking to all participants, thus adding credibility to the qualitative study (Candela, 2019).

Data Analysis

We thematically analyzed the interviews by systematically open-coding, identifying, organizing, and offering insight into patterns of meaning across our data set (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2012). First, interview transcripts were imported into NVivo12 software for coding. To increase interrater reliability, ND and EB independently coded transcripts and discussed and reviewed differences until agreement was reached. The entire research team reflected regularly on the codes. To build complexity and variation in the analysis, we engaged with theoretical sampling by purposive sampling and analyzing new data against emerging patterns to develop and refine the theoretical concepts as the research progressed. For example, when the topic of invisibility of a female body emerged from the analysis of the first interviews, in the consecutive interviews we intentionally brought up the question of how having a female body may interfere with an objective to become “one of the guys.” During the data analysis, recurring patterns became visible, and subthemes were identified.

Findings

Across the interviews, we identified a developmental process in which women’s transitional stages over the life course were connected to their status as military: (a) from civilian to military; (b) maternity and motherhood in the military; and (c) military women and menopause.¹

From Civilian to Military

Interviewees stated that at the start of their career at the NAF, they had to manage the challenges to fulfill the sports test and to succeed during the green phase with bivouac during military training. Interviewees described themselves as ambitious, self-confident, and motivated at that stage. Only three interviewees had thought about what it would be like working in a male-dominated environment. They knew they opted for a nontraditional profession with physical challenges emanating a hint of romanticism, as they perceived wearing the uniform and camaraderie. It also gave them the opportunity to do something good, even if that meant going to war:

All sorts of magazines . . . had examples of the army. I found it beautiful . . . the uniform. I also thought about joining another operational organization. But I felt more for joining the army, being in the military, all the tasks . . . That attracted me more, the adventure, so to speak. That large emblem, the motto, and there were few women. I wanted to be deployed abroad; I was sporty; I rode a motorbike in those days. And I found that suited me a bit better, also going abroad. A8 NCO

For most interviewees, taking a job at the NAF meant the opportunity to do something for the country, but it also meant having a job with physical challenges and living an adventurous life. When becoming a soldier, recruits, both female and male, must pass physical tests to be eligible to further their military careers. The majority of the interviewees found out that there were different requirements for men and women, right before taking the sports test. This motivated them to try to meet the men’s standards, if only to prove themselves, to not be seen as inferior, or just because they believed they should be able to “do that too.” Meeting the men’s physical standards made them feel accepted, and they felt as if they were becoming one of the guys:

You had to be tough; you had to join in with the men. You could definitely not start crying. And . . . you have to simply meet the physical [demands]. And that is what I did. I joined in, and I didn’t squeal. A19 NCO

According to the interviewees, the sports instructors and the men in the group highly valued women who met the men’s requirements. That was usually the first time when interviewees became aware of the existing gender hierarchy and how a lower physical performance by women could be perceived by their male colleagues. Passing the requirements for male colleagues seemed to come with benefits, meaning that no depreciative attention was paid to them, that they were left alone and could do “their own thing.” They were seen as professionals, soldiers, not as women. This was experienced as freedom according to a few interviewees:

Of course you also have to study, but it is the norm that you do that physical part well. Especially as a woman. Because I also had women in my group who were struggling with that very much. And then you are immediately behind with 100-0, but not only with exercises, with everything. A13 Officer

After the physical tests, military education, or rather military socialization, started with the designated “green phase.” The first few months after being selected were all about learning basic military skills, becoming a team, and learning loyalty. This is called “the green phase,” because the body was being disciplined into a military body for both men and women. They became military professionals and had to learn to be members of a group. According to the interviewees, the recruits were expected to push their limits as individuals and as a group, to not complain, and to learn what loyalty meant. This was the second time, after the sports test, when women would come under the spotlight and want to prove that they were no different from the rest and belonged to the group.

In the interviews, menstruation was first mentioned in relation to the “green phase.” Most interviewees indicated that they postponed their menstrual period by taking oral contraceptives so that they would not have their period at bivouac, which, in their opinion, could weaken their reputation. Half of the interviewees indicated that they were allowed to shower when they had their period during the bivouac, but, in their own eyes, this would put them in a position of privilege, which simultaneously downgraded them as a soldier:

It was also told to students that if you really find it unpleasant, then [a shower] can be an option. I know that there were girls in my group who could take an extra shower. I definitely did not want that, because then I would be in an exceptional position again, and then there would always be stories told by men about that . . . Then the bivouac would be less heavy . . . Then you had not really earned your beret. A19 NCO

There appeared to be little knowledge among military personnel about the impact menstruation could have on women and how to handle this:

A hormone IUD did not work so well; I had a lot of trouble with that. I had my periods nine months in a row, and then I finally went to the hospital. The gynecologist said, “Well, you must be out of your mind for waiting so long.” And I said yes, the military general practitioner (GP) had told me to hold on for just a bit longer; I just had to get used to the hormone IUD. A2 Officer

Furthermore, the interviewees learned that menstruation was seen as a private matter and that young women were not supposed to talk about it openly in the context of their service:

We had the ditch march . . . I was having my period, and then I confided in the sergeant major. He said, “Don’t worry, it will all be okay. . ..” So I really thought, okay, I was 18, and then I went through those ditches. And then I fell, so I was completely soaked, with a sanitary pad between my legs; it started to chafe until it bled, and then you still have to continue all night. A17 NCO

This attitude of not complaining and not attracting attention that started during the sports test and which was carried on during the green phase was felt as a precondition to earn respect from male colleagues and the instructors.

In complying with these implicit standards of not complaining and of “carrying the burden,” the interviewees made efforts to avoid judgments about being a woman in military service and avoid feeling excluded as a female soldier:

I am not inferior to anybody because I am a woman. I feel satisfaction not because of the type of person I am but because of what I can do with people stopped by the NAF in the workplace, that I can handle that just like those men. A19 NCO

Six interviewees did not pass the physical requirements for men and “only” those for women. They reported having a hard time during the green phase because they got (negative) attention, such as name-calling and shouting. According to our interviewees, this was not specifically directed against women; men who were physically not the strongest in the group faced similar verbal abuse and negative attention:

In my head it still resonates a bit. It was always like, X, come on, join, X, X is not with the group of boys. In my head they only knew one name, and that was mine. A12 NCO

The idea of most interviewees was that when passing the sports tests and the green phase without drawing attention to their female bodies, they could become “one of the guys..”

Maternity and Motherhood in the Military

This theme refers to the women’s experiences during prenatal and postnatal stages while working at the NAF. Interviewees did not only refer to physical changes but also to practical and procedural issues such as wearing uniforms or having to negotiate for support.

When applying for the NAF, a majority of the interviewees had not thought about the possibility of future motherhood as a military professional. Most interviewees had applied in their late teens and early 20s. The interviewees who did have children during their careers were now officers and noncommissioned officers. Some of the women who had been pregnant between 1985 and 1990, at that time still noncommissioned officers, thought that in those days women were fired if they had children or otherwise they could work part-time at NAF. Taking a parental break was possible but not at every place in the organization. Nowadays, part-time work is accepted, but as the interviewees indicated, in the NAF, part-time work or dual jobs are still the exception rather than the rule:

I don’t work part-time for nothing. And then it was like, being in the military means 24 hours a day. I say I am not a 24-hour soldier who happens to have a few children; I am a 24-hour mother who works a few hours at the NAF. And I say I am a soldier, and I want to go abroad, to war, but not for the most extensive period available. A6 NCO

Interviewees indicated that pregnancy continues to be viewed as putting your career on hold:

I’ve heard that from two female lieutenants when I was still pregnant. They said, “We’re a bit worried because if we were pregnant now, we would have such a gap in our resumes..” I said, Gap in your resume? Yes, because our adjutant also said, “Girls, don’t get pregnant during the first five years.” A12 NCO

Pregnancy seems to affect women in the military in different ways. At a more practical level, it creates challenges for wearing a poorly fitting uniform or doing sports tests. It also concerns operational deployability and whether or not to carry a weapon and, if so, until what stage of pregnancy:

If women are in operations . . . Are they allowed to go out on the street or not? Of course they are not allowed! They have to carry weapons, but of course you are not going to carry a weapon when you are pregnant. That makes sense, right? Aren’t you going to prevent your people from getting into a situation that puts them . . . at risk? And you can’t always count on that body when you’re pregnant, no matter how fit you are. (. . .) we had only had women in Defense for 75 years . . . A2 Officer

In this quote, the female officer shares her concern about the fact that some managers have no knowledge or no idea how to deal with a pregnant woman. At the time of their pregnancies, most interviewees had been unaware of laws and regulations as regards pregnancy and the postpartum period. Most of the women expected their manager to be familiar with such regulations, but this was an unmet expectation, according to them. Most of their managers seemed to not possess the necessary information. This interviewee did not take up 2 weeks of pregnancy leave that she was entitled to, because she was unaware of her legal rights:

They did not actually tell you, you have to look up the information yourself.., but my manager started looking immediately. It was a kind of joint project, and we looked at what was still possible, what was still allowed. HR was not involved, not during the first pregnancy. That also resulted in a loss of time. I thought I had 10 weeks after giving birth, and I was so stupid; I gave birth 2 weeks later. So I just calculated 10 weeks from the due date and went back to work way too early. A12 NCO

Seven out of 17 interviewees who had been pregnant have had health complaints, such as nausea and pelvic pain. Nevertheless, the silencing routine continued, as the women reported not having complained, called in sick, or asked for support. They wanted to continue working until their maternity leave started, out of solidarity with colleagues in their team. This attitude toward dealing with pregnancies sounds similar to how the interviewees handled menstruation issues during bivouac. Some of the interviewees had planned to do things differently in the future, with a next pregnancy. However, that was easier said than done:

I always thought that women were sometimes a bit too quick to complain about pregnancy. I thought, come on, we’re not sick, we’re simply pregnant. I gained a lot of weight but was too stubborn to go to the military GP, or even on maternity leave. When I became pregnant with the second, I thought I would do things completely differently, but no. . . A12 NCO

Imagining in advance how to combine work with a newborn had been difficult. A number of interviewees initiated a conversation with their manager, talked with their partners about sharing the care responsibilities, and wanted to make arrangements at work. Sometimes, colleagues discouraged them:

So I found it very difficult to imagine how to cope with a job like that. I had lots of talks about it, and colleagues. . . also told me: you will not want to work here anymore when you have a little one. What do you want to do? Do you want to put it in your backpack, into the mountain together? That simply won’t do. There are so many practical things, emotional, that are completely out of reach then. A9 NCO

All interviewees who became mothers wanted to return to their own jobs in their own teams after maternity leave. They felt that they had not changed as a military professional, except for having become a mother. While colleagues and managers suggested considering a switch to a staff function or taking a part-time job, interviewees still saw themselves as a part of the team, although they did expect certain arrangements, such as parental leave or the possibility to continue breastfeeding, for which they needed some facilitation at work:

I say, Yes, I simply have the right to be able to pump. So yes, I don’t know how to proceed with that, but I would really like to do this. Only you feel uncomfortable, I know there are regulations, and I know that if I put my foot down, I shall be able and permitted to do much more. But the fact that I have to ask for it and that it is not automatically taken into account makes it uncomfortable for me. Well, partly this dependence is since the person who draws up the schedule. . . I am in fact dependent on whether he indeed takes it into account and also my added value in the team. Because if I am gone each time, how does the team still benefit from me? So that also plays a role, yes. A19 NCO

Other interviewees felt insecure during their maternity leave because of a combination of factors such as the idea of going back to work, being a mother, and meeting expectations of colleagues, their team, their manager, and probably themselves:

The little one had just been born, and then I had a bit of a panic attack, like, “Oh dear, what now?” Because I had said, I can manage all that. I have operated in this function like that, and I shall not be the one now who is going to succumb like, Oh, I cannot do this. Because it is, after all, the “can do” mentality, and everybody can do everything, and there is very little talk about, Oh, actually, I feel very stressed; my workload is too heavy; I can’t manage this. A3 Officer

For some women, lactating was difficult or impossible to squeeze into their daily work schedule, or they found it difficult to claim a break for this purpose. In their eyes, it would draw attention to the fact that a woman in the military was now a mother, after having already attracted a lot of attention as a person with a female body during pregnancy. A few women stopped breastfeeding during maternity leave to avoid hassle at work, such as discussing the fact that they wanted to lactate and had to claim time for it. One interviewee explained that colleagues had commented on expressing milk already during her pregnancy, which forced her to stop breastfeeding before she had to go back to work. During the interview, she cried. She did not want to stop breastfeeding but saw no other solution:

I phased out breastfeeding. Yes, I had already come to that conclusion. I wanted to breastfeed; if that would go well, I would make sure to phase it out before returning to work. She cries. A19 NCO

For a small group of interviewees, it was not a problem, though, combining these stages with being one of the guys:

Yes, you see, it is not that I think, like, Oh la la, everything is going smoothly now with a child, because it is an almost daily struggle to plan, to make things fit together . . . Indeed, it is putting a lot of pressure on me. . . It is not run of the mill what I am doing; I realize that every day . . . But I am enjoying my job tremendously; yes, how do you say that? Satisfaction, fulfillment . . . the gratification that I obtain from what I can contribute in my job, what I am doing for the people. And yes, that sounds even a bit further away. I also enjoy the fact that a woman too can do this perfectly well . . . A5 Officer

Seven interviewees said that they had arranged their work schedule after maternity leave in advance. Two interviewees had made verbal arrangements with their commanders, but not in writing. Upon their return from maternity leave, the commander with whom they had made arrangements was no longer present, and they had to renegotiate arrangements, which caused stress, misunderstanding, and feelings of helplessness:

And indeed I noticed when I returned from maternity leave. . . that is, after 4 months or so that I returned. Well, my desk was gone, my things were gone, somebody else was sitting in my spot, and nothing had been arranged, so I really thought, like, you did know that I would come back, so where is my spot? A19 NCO

The realization that the agreements and promises were not kept had harmed interviewees’ sense of being part of a team. It violated feelings of camaraderie and made some interviewees question their loyalty toward the NAF.

The interviews suggested that the question of whether or not to become pregnant, and pregnancy itself, caused stress for the women in the military because of a lack of workplace support for being military personnel who are also mothers. Other issues vary from physically fitting in the uniform to lack of attention for health issues such as pelvic pains and not asking for medical support. The interviews suggested that cracks begin to occur in the women’s firm belief of being one of the guys after becoming a mother in the military service.

Military Women and Menopause

This theme is about how the interviewed women describe their experiences in a next female-specific life stage, namely menopause, and how the interviewees cope with menopause in relation to their military careers at the NAF.

Nine out of the 20 interviewees were in the life stage of the menopausal transition (mostly 45 years and older). These interviewees have been working their entire careers at the armed forces, with an average employment time of 28 years. Generally, the women with a long employment time indicated that they have been trained and formed as professional military employees. All those years, they had learned and practiced to not complain about topics such as menstruation and maternity. Unsurprisingly, most of the interviewees did not talk about menopause at work either. Initially, five interviewees initially did not identify themselves as (peri-)menopausal, as they were certain that they did not experience any complaints related to menopause. However, later in the interview, four of them indicated having certain symptoms that they identified as possibly related to the menopause. Four of the nine interviewees visited a military GP, and one of them did actually receive medical help for menopausal complaints. Three of those four who visited a military GP disclosed that this military GP had not recognized the symptoms of menopause, and they felt not taken seriously:

In the past . . . I also suffered very much from tiredness. And then I went for a check, blood results, and so on. I said, perhaps it is menopause, but there was no listening ear for that. First, I had to lose weight . . .A11 Officer

A few interviewees said that in the workplace, they would refer to the health complaints that were associated with menopause in a rather implicit way, for instance, by making jokes:

And when I am grumpy, then . . . nowadays I simply say, Boys, it is my menopause, and if that bothers you, then go and ask your wife what it is all about. I am not going to explain things anymore, because I think: I don’t feel like that, and it is none of your concern. A10 Officer

Three interviewees indicated that they were having serious health complaints related to menopause that affected their work. So far, no one had reported sick because of menopausal complaints. Again, also in this life stage, most of the women kept silent and did not ask for support. They continued behaving along the patterns developed early on in their careers, such as during bivouac and in the reproductive life stage:

Yes, it bothers me. I don’t sleep very well, and then I am sitting in the car like, “Oh dear, if I could only pull over and take a nap or so, that would feel wonderful..” And then I think: no, drive on. It will be better again soon. [. . .] Sometimes I do think it might have been better if I had stayed at home, but you don’t know in advance, do you, how it turns out . . . And then you are already on the road. A3 NCO

A number of interviewees indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic had made it easier to adjust working hours and working from home so that they could keep, for example, fatigue invisible to their colleagues. Five interviewees indicated that because they tried and stayed physically fit, they did not have complaints related to menopause, expressing a sense of control over their symptoms. These women could still take the sports tests and felt they did not need special attention from colleagues or managers during this stage of life:

I am not the type for: Oh, the menopause, what must I do now, what do I feel? I do feel a bit shaky sometimes. . . And then I think: [name], act normally! Pull yourself together, yes, pull yourself together, and act normally! But maybe it is just a phase. I am in an uncertain phase, indeed, and that can well be part of [menopause]. No idea. I don’t know, a colleague, a civilian, she is very open about that; I think that is quite nice. And she is dealing with it very well; I find that quite commendable. I am not like that; I don’t like all that attention focused on me. I don’t know how I would handle that. A7 NCO

The way interviewees handled menopause resembles how they handled menstruation and pregnancy. Proper handling meant being loyal to colleagues, not complaining, not asking for help, and hiding their body and bodily functions. However, while menstruation could be hidden, pregnancy could not. As regards menopause, new questions arose about how to deal with the visibility of the female body. By keeping fit and doing a lot of sports, some interviewees felt control over their symptoms or had the idea they did not have menopausal symptoms—even when they did. Other interviewees handled menopause at work using a rather confrontational style, for instance, by making jokes about it.

Discussion

In this study we focus on female military personnel in the NAF and women veterans and their experiences with female life stages during their military careers.

During the women’s military careers, we identified three female-specific life stages from the interviews encompassing: (a) becoming a female professional upon entry in the military and dealing with the menstrual cycle; (b) maternity and motherhood; and (c) the menopausal transition. Our findings show that from the first stage onwards, female military personnel start off aiming for an “I-will-perform-similar-to-people-with-male-bodies strategy . . .” Eventually, it becomes a habit to overperform, particularly in physical tests. This strategy of supra-performance also characterizes their attitudes toward dealing with the menstrual cycle, a strategy that is deemed untenable during pregnancy as it becomes incompatible with women’s changing bodies and bodily needs and demands. During pregnancy, female military personnel suddenly become more visible as employees with female bodies. This mismatch of having hidden female bodies further promotes practices of (self-)silencing as the women want to be able to maintain their positions and keep access to opportunities for development and promotion. As a consequence, overperformance and (self-)silencing become integral parts of women’s daily work, also during maternity and motherhood and during the menopausal transition, when the women still working at the NAF in this life stage have finally managed to reach higher positions in the military hierarchy. Both overperformance and (self-)silencing play an important role in the process of dealing with female-specific life stages.

Overperformance

Overperformance refers to individuals’ perception that they need to perform better to gain acceptance and recognition within the workplace than reasonably to be expected (Parker & Griffin, 2002). Several theories explain employees’ inclination to overperform, especially within an organizational culture dominated by men. According to Tajfel and Turner’s (1979) social identity theory, individuals maintain their self-worth by identifying themselves as members of social groups and belonging to groups that compare favorably to other groups (Parker & Griffin, 2002). In our study, women at the very beginning of their military careers aimed to meet the male requirements in sport tests and reported feeling highly valued by sport instructors and male colleagues in the group. Women feel that they must not only succeed, but excel in an institution that is very explicitly not built for their bodies to be accepted as part of the team. And even then an event like pregnancy can seem to wipe away that sense of inclusion.

Male-dominated organizations can be based on maintaining manhood (Stockdale, 1999), which is often associated with fear of losing power (de Haas et al., 2010). This may signal to women that they have to overperform to not become powerless. Other studies on women in traditionally male-dominated organizations also suggest that women believe that they have to overperform to receive recognition of their skills from male co-workers and supervisors (Goldenhar et al., 1998; Johnson, 1991). While looking for collegial recognition, women have to manage their often less muscular bodies and hide bodily processes such as menstrual cycles. However, pretending that menstruation does not exist or hiding a female body during pregnancy, nursing a baby, or hiding menopausal symptoms at work is impossible. As a result, women navigate between, on one hand, ignoring the fact that female and male bodies are not the same to avoid negative attention, while on the other hand, simultaneously hoping and expecting that special female bodily characteristics are respected and positively appreciated, such as time for pregnancy leave or having access to a quiet space for pumping milk. As a result, women may avoid seeking medical help at the right time or not ask for help to balance their work and private life. Mismatches between needs and support may contribute to women’s physical and mental problems, negatively affect their self-esteem, affect their sense of belonging and loyalty toward the team and the organization, and ultimately, possibly negatively impact their careers. On an emotional level, overperformance can be damaging as it may lead to anger, anxiety, and depression (Hitlan et al., 2009; Swim et al., 2001), significant declines in professional and psychological well-being (Leskinen et al., 2011), and worries about the way their performance is perceived socially (Heidensohn, 1992; Johnson, 1991). Our findings show that overperformance can be viewed as a recurrent pattern, as a process that starts when women enter the armed forces and continues during various life and career stages as they move through the armed forces.

(Self-)silencing

Women’s overperformance coincides with silencing the physical, mental, and possibly social price they pay for being accepted as “one of the guys.” Self-silencing in the armed forces therefore has an alienating effect, individualizing women’s problems while, in fact, they are organizational in nature. In the interviews, a loss of “sense of power” over the course of many of the interviewed women’s careers, while their competence on the job is in fact increasing, became almost palpable. In the literature on gender differences and women’s rights, the concept of (self)-silencing has a long history. Self-silencing is defined as a “tendency to inhibit self-expression and action” (D. C. Jack & Ali, 2010, p. 5). These authors state that women sometimes respond to conditions of gender inequality by learning to strategically silence certain forms of self-expression as an attempt to preserve or maintain important relationships (D. C. Jack & Ali, 2010). Power relations are an important source of silencing at work and may result in reduced self-esteem and feelings of a “loss of self” (Patrick et al., 2018), difficulty in coping with illness (Dale et al., 2014; Kayser et al., 1999), decreased work motivation (London et al., 2012), and a sense of alienation and not belonging (London et al., 2012). Self-silencing is thus a function of the interaction between personal and social contextual factors (Patrick et al., 2018). Components of self-silencing are judging oneself by the presumed or explicit standards of those in power, taking responsibility for fitting in, hiding aspects of one’s “real self” that conflict with what is valued by powerful others, and behaving in self-censoring and silencing ways with the intention to prevent possible rejection (London et al., 2012). When rejection concerns are activated, women’s knowledge of gender stereotypes in the organization may trigger doubts about whether they are capable of performing at all or whether they will be judged as performing in ways that are valued (London et al., 2012). As women feel they are supposed to not show characteristics of their female bodies, simultaneously they fulfill a rather traditional female gender role as the motivation to silence themselves, according to D. C. Jack and Ali (2010), comes mostly from the attempt “to fill a gender role marked by passivity, body shame, fear and vulnerability, and niceness” (D. C. Jack & Ali, 2010, p. 141). In patriarchal cultures, also in the armed forces, and to maintain relationships, women do need to conform to traditional feminine roles and thus, to a sense of powerlessness. Some factors inherent to the culture of the organization, such as an emphasis on physical strength and masculine values, do function as antecedents of women’s self-silencing in the organizational setting (Maji & Dixit, 2020).

Our findings suggest that overperforming and self-silencing strengthen each other and that these mechanisms have a long history and do require attention within the NAF. These mechanisms possibly point toward an underrecognized “emergency exit” in the organization for women, namely a switch to military staff positions or “taking off their uniform,” creating a higher outflow of women from military service compared with men. We address this with caution, as more research into these mechanisms and their relationship with women leaving the armed forces is required. As dissatisfaction and physical discomfort continue to be seen as normal, gender differences remain undiscussed and continue to exist at the cost of (retaining) female military personnel. This interview study contributes to a better understanding of female military personnel’s perspective on their experiences in the NAF. Taking these perspectives into account will provide more fertile ground for developing new policies in the NAF as a diverse, equitable, and inclusive military organization.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Nadia Diacone

Elena Bendien

Eva van Baarle

Petra Verdonk

Notes

Author Biographies

Nadia Diacone is PhD candidate and senior staff advisor for social safety at the Netherlands Armed Forces. Ministy of Defense, 90200, 3509 BE Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Elena Bendien is lecturer and researcher in the field of aging studies at Leyden Academy on Vitality and Aging.

Eva van Baarle is associate professor psychological safety and ethics at the Netherlands Defense Academy, Hogeschoollaan 2, 4818 CR Breda, The Netherlands, and research associate at the department of Ethics, Law and Humanities, Amsterdam UMC, Location VUmc, VU Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1089a, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Petra Verdonk is a senior researcher on gender, intersectionality, health, and climate crisis justice. Until recently, she worked as associate professor at the department of Ethics, Law and Humanities, Amsterdam UMC-VU University. She has founded her own agency Beyond Boundary focusing on the intersection of gender, health, and the climate crisis.

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Women in the Military: Navigating Through Female Life Stages and Military Career by “Acting Normally”

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Methodology

Interviewees and Data Collection

Ethical Considerations

Data Analysis

Findings

From Civilian to Military

Maternity and Motherhood in the Military

Military Women and Menopause

Discussion

Overperformance

(Self-)silencing

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iDs

Notes

Author Biographies

References