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Periods, Pregnancy, and Peeing: Leaky Feminine Bodies in Swedish Military Marketing
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Economic History and International Relations.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5804-2201
2022 (English)In: International Political Sociology, ISSN 1749-5679, E-ISSN 1749-5687, Vol. 16, no 1, p. 1-21Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The notion of “leaky” female bodies has long rationalized the exclusion of women from military service. Yet, in an attempt to bolster enlistments by appealing to women, the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) embarked on a marketing strategy that aims to break with gender stereotypes in order to fill its ranks. Most notably, in a 2018 recruitment campaign, an SAF billboard posed the question “Can I have my period in the field?” This article probes how the leaky female body is mobilized in SAF marketing campaigns and outreach activities. While remarkable for their commitment to gender parity, we aver that there is more going on in these campaigns that seemingly render women's bodies normal and unproblematic as military bodies than a move toward gender equality. The representations of female soldiering bodies that emerge reproduce a familiar form of militarism that promotes the necessity of a battle-ready military corps that is predictable, and poised for warring. Moreover, these explicitly feminist SAF campaigns also beckon with the possibility of becoming that transcends the bodily limitations of sex/gender in civilian as well as military life, in war as well as in peace—to become perhaps something/someone/somewhere else that only military service can offer.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022. Vol. 16, no 1, p. 1-21
Keywords [en]
Sociology, International Relations, Security, Militarism, War
National Category
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Research subject
International Relations
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-198008DOI: 10.1093/ips/olab025ISI: 000784964000006OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-198008DiVA, id: diva2:1605234
Projects
Den könsneutrala värnpliktens infrastruktur, implementering och historiska kontextThe return and reimagination of military conscription in Europe
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-01066 and 2020-00755Available from: 2021-10-22 Created: 2021-10-22 Last updated: 2022-05-18Bibliographically approved

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Strand, Sanna

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