Research Log 1 Women in Military

Francine, D'Amico. Gender Camouflage. New York: New
            York University Press, 1999. Print.


Summary:  Our nation continues to debate whether women should be in war, whether their presence inhibits men from carrying out their mission, whether the American public can withstand women's return in body bags and whether women can handle lack of privacy, being surrounded by violent deaths, or being prisoners of war. People aren't paying attention to history, or history is paying attention to itself, because these issues and questions have been answered by the experiences of thousands of women who have once served as those first military nurses starting with the Revolutionary War.  


Response:  When the Revolutionary War began, General George Washington asked that one female nurse be employed for every ten patients to relieve men for battle.  Surgeon's mates whom were usually men, performed skilled nursing tasks, and female nurses emptied chamber pots and cleaned wards and patients, although they occasionally gave medication or assisted with healthy diets for the soldiers.  Americans believed the appropriate role for women was domestic, and this is reflected in author Fanny Kemble’s journal entry in the late 1830s: “Maids must be wives and mothers to fulfill the entire and holiest end of woman’s being.”  I completely agree with the role women use to have in the military.  People adapt to what society perceives them, where this specific example is demonstrating exactly what society thinks women should do. Society also prepares women to become these caregiving phenom's with propaganda and even forceful action pertaining to the law.  There is nothing women can really do, but obey and become, so that is how their place in the military was first originated.  


Next Step:  I chose this specific source out of three different books.  I thought this particular source was laid out much more clearly with headings rather than run on text. It guided me through an introduction of the section and laid out what it was going to pin point which helped me gather information much quicker.  Also, it really demonstrates and proves where women first started out in the military and why women began this way.  After reading this source, I would really like to get into the how the shift went from women being allowed in the military as nurses to women in combat and where and when this switch took place.  This will hopefully better my understanding as to why women are in combat today and what issues we have with them in combat today.  This will then set the basis for my research allowing me to branch off for other issues with women in combat.