Sexing the Soldier

<p><em>Sexing the Soldier</em> takes a critical look at how gender - what it means to be a man or a woman - is understood within the contemporary British Army and the political and practical consequences of this. Drawing on original research this informaive volume looks at:</p><ul> <li>the history and structure of the British Army as a masculine institution</li> <li>personnel policies which deal with gender issues</li> <li>the construction of ideas about military masculinities and femininities within the Army</li> <li>media representations of the figure of the soldier. </li> </ul><p>Using case studies ranging from the exclusion of women from direct combat posts to the issues surrounding bullying this book argues that we need a fuller more nuanced assessment of gender issues in the military that moves beyond the simplistic ideas about women's and men's 'natural' capacities for soldiering. </p>