Creating GI Jane

Sexuality and Power in the Women's Army Corps During World War II

Author: Leisa D. Meyer
ISBN: 9780231101448

In Creating GI Jane, Leisa Meyer traces the roots of a cultural anxiety at the core of the American psyche, providing the historical perspective needed to understand the controversies still surrounding the gendered military. Drawing upon a rich array of sources including oral histories, army papers, congressional hearings, cartoons, and editorials, Meyer paints nuanced portraits of the experiences of women soldiers against the backdrop of strife and opportunity during the war years.The book chronicles the efforts of the female WAC administration to counter public controversy by controlling the type of women recruited and regulating service-women's behavior. Reflecting and reinforcing contemporary sexual stereotypes, the WAC administration recruited the most "respectable" white middle-class women, limited the number of women of color, and screened against lesbian enlistments. As Meyer demonstrates, the military establishment also upheld current sex and race occupational segregation, ass

Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publish Date: 1996-01

Subjects: History / Military / World War II, Social Science / Women's Studies, Social Science / Gender Studies, Technology & Engineering / Military Science

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Military/War)