The issue of Navy women in combat has been widely discussed since women first served during World War I. In this paper I intend to present the political, philosophical, and historical reasoning behind the changing of the regulations to allow women in combat. History shows that the Navy has faced political, social, moral and ethical problems of this nature before and has successfully dealt with them. The political interests are highly varied and are a significant force in the debate. Reasons for and against allowing Navy women to serve in combat positions cover such concerns as physical and psychological abilities, the technical nature of warfare, and the need for a larger youth cohort. In January of 1994, the time had come for combat exclusion statutes to be repealed and for the Navy to admit women into combat roles. The issue was at the forefront of the Clinton Administration's agenda and a strong public constituency was in support of eliminating the unethical practices of sexual harassment, fraternization, and other forms of gender related favoritism. The role of women in society, as a whole, had progressed from politically weak positions as homemaker and childbearer to highly influential positions as industry executives and congressional representatives. These elements, coupled with the Navy's historically documented ability to deal effectively with issues of equal opportunity and integration, were the driving force behind the changes. Gender integration will take time and undergo significant growing pains, but with continued support from political and military leadership, proper training of the troops, and the desire to win, the Navy will achieve victory in developing a gender-neutral fleet. / Graduation date: 1995

This thesis is an exploration of the construction of the gendered body in combat in the late twentieth century, in Australia and the United States of America. While it is not a military history, aspects of military history, and representations of war and warriors are used as the vehicle for the analysis of the politics of representing gender. The mythic, the material and the media(ted) body of the gendered warrior are examined in the realms of ‘real’ military histories and news coverage, and in the ‘speculative’ arena of popular culture. Through this examination, the continuities and ruptures inherent in the gendered narratives of war and warriors are made apparent, and the operation of the politics of representing gender in the public arena is exposed. I have utilised a number of different approaches from different disciplines in the construction of this thesis: feminist and non-feminist responses to women in the military; aspects of military histories and mythologies of war specific to Australia and the United States; theories on the construction of masculinities and femininities; approaches to gender identity in popular news media, film and television. Through these approaches I have sought to bring together the history of women in the military institutions of Australia and the United States, and examine the nexus between the expansion of women’s military roles and the emergence of the female warrior hero in popular culture. I have, as a result, analysed the constructions of masculinity and femininity that inform the ongoing association of the military with ‘quintessential masculinity’, and deconstructed the real and the mythic corporeal capacities of the gendered body so important to warrior identity. Regardless, or perhaps because of, the importance of gender politics played out in and through the representations of soldier identity, all their bodies must be considered speculative.