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Dissertation Information for Laura Lei Miller

NAME:
- Laura Lei Miller

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Sociology

SCHOOL:
- Northwestern University (USA) (1995)

ADVISORS:
- Charles Moskos

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Gender detente: Soldiers managing conflict in the United States Army

Abstract: This dissertation examines gender conflict and gender detente within the U.S. Army. I conducted my research at eight Army posts, two national training centers, U.S. bases in Germany, and operations in Haiti, Somalia and Macedonia. My data come from interviews, participant observation, discussion groups, written comments, and over 4,100 questionnaires.

I discuss why most Army women, particularly enlisted women and/or women of color, do not find their views represented among feminist activists. Most Army women reject activists' preferences to compel women into the combat arms and make them subject to the draft, as men are. Most women would not volunteer for the combat arms, although they support those who would.

I examine the views of male soldiers who object to expanding women's roles. These men want to preserve the socially reinforced differences between the sexes, and express a sense of personal injury at policies they believe favor women. These men resist women in forms the literature considers the weapons of the powerless. My research shows how anonymous forms of resistance can also be used by dominant groups. Multiple hierarchies, along the lines of race, rank, MOS and age, mean that most people are simultaneously powerless and powerful relative to others.

Finally I explore sexual and gender harassment. Interactional strategies are the primary system for Army women to manage harassment, as the formal complaint system is unreliable and the stigma of collective action usually keeps them apart. Some men imagine that the complaint system is more effective than it actually is. Women prefer ignoring minor offenses, but otherwise prefer to confront the harasser personally. To deter harassment proactively, women try to desexualize the environment, improve their job skills, contribute as an equal member of their work team, and make "soldier" rather than "woman" their master status.

In seeking out solutions to gender conflict, we have to set aside our notions that most men and women are in opposition to one another, and that each gender is monolithic. Both men and women are heterogeneous groups and both are needed in the struggle to reach gender detente.

MPACT Scores for Laura Lei Miller

A = 0
C = 2
A+C = 2
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-10-16 14:31:36

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