Abstract
Field, purpose & research question
In an evaluation of sexual harassment (“krænkelser” in Danish) in the Danish Defense, a study found, that more than 15 % of the female soldiers found the culture and social tone in the organization to be harassing. This study aims to uncover how these comments affect the female combat soldiers. The research question of this study is thus: How does comments connected to one’s gender affect the female soldiers’ integration into the army’s combat units?
Theoretical framework
To answer this, I draw on the theoretical apparatus of Pierre Bourdieu. More specifically I introduce his terms of social space, fields, capitals, doxa and habitus which are used to uncover the social praxis in the Danish Defense, where there seems to be a culture with a lot of comments based on sex and gender.
Method
The study is conducted using a qualitative method based on three semi-structured interviews with female combat soldiers from a panzer infantry unit. Furthermore, I draw on the work of Danmarks Radio and Radio 24Syv who have created podcast documentary series which is genuinely the interviews they have conducted with more than 15 former female combat soldiers.
Conclusions
The study concludes that all three of Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts to a high degree can uncover the complex effect between comments based on sex and/or gender and females’ integration into the army’s combat units.
First the most important capitals seem to be physical strength and infantry craftmanship. The problem is, however, that the infantry-craftsmanship to a high degree is a function of physical strength – where men have a biological advantage. The doxa does not surprisingly seem to be that a soldier of course can carry his (or her) own equipment. However, these insights together seem to be a creator of sex/gender-based comments.
Second, sex/gender-based comments fundamentally change the female soldiers’ habitus, making them act in ways that they actually prefer not to – in order to fit into the social hierarchy – thus making them assimilate rather than integrate.
Third and last, sex/gender-based comments indirectly excludes the women from the soldier community as they either cannot or will not engage in the social tone that the male soldiers seem to uphold – thus making it harder for the women to integrate.
The study lists three considerations that a platoon commander can take into account: 1) talk gender-neutral, 2) do not give women special treatment, 3) do not accept the premise, that the social tone has to be hard in noncombat situations.