Description
Book SynopsisA comprehensive analysis of the changing representations of military women in American and British movies and TV programs from the Second World War to the present.
Trade Review“All the chapters are impeccably researched and meticulously detailed, but it’s Tasker’s attention to small particulars, the kind many casual observers might miss (such as an offhand reference to a beauty parlor or the importance of costumes in ‘transformation narratives’), and the complicated conclusions she draws, even when the films (or television shows) seem superficial on the surface, that really make the text. . . . Reading Tasker’s analyses of these texts could make many rethink what is considered ‘entertaining’ at the expense of women.” - Catherine Ramsdell,
PopMatters“Richly illustrated, the book carefully explains the evolution f the icons, showing the provocation sof women soldiers not only to their collegial male warriors but also to the cultural values of both genders in both countries. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” - R. A. Champagne,
Choice“I don’t see how anyone can do serious scholarship that involves feminism and/or gender and/or film without having read Tasker.” - Carol Wical,
Media International Australia“Attentive to issues of race and class as well as gender, and sensitive to the range of volatile topics associated with the figure of the military woman, including violence, sexuality, and nationality,
Soldiers’ Stories conscientiously provides the military woman a well-deserved visibility in cinema and media studies.” - Elaine Roth,
Journal of American History“...
Soldiers’ Stories does more than fill a gap. It joins a wider discussion on how gendered assumptions persist amid women’s rising presence in the real-life military and other areas of American life. As Tasker aptly puts it, even in our own time “the military woman still requires explanation” (p. 236). Thus the ultimate implication of the work is that purveyors of culture, and presumably much of the public, continue to regard the female soldier as a paradox—not quite a soldier, Tasker tells us, but not quite a woman either.” - Andrew J. Huebener,
American Historical Review“[A] provocative and important book…. [A] valuable study, clear in its purpose, and well supported by research…. [Tasker] has written a comprehensive social and cultural history of how we’ve been asked to view women in the military since World War II.” - Jeanine Basinger,
Journal of American Studies“
Soldiers’ Stories is an important, timely, and eminently readable—and teachable—cultural history. Yvonne Tasker takes the figure of the woman soldier in US and UK popular film and TV as a cultural flashpoint for examining the history of our collective thinking about war, violence, authority, sexuality, female embodiment, and gender trouble in the military.”—
Sharon Willis, author of
High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film“What is so valuable about Yvonne Tasker’s investigation of film and TV images of British and American military women is that she doesn’t stop at the end of World War II. She keeps us attentive right through the Korean and Vietnam wars. She makes sure we track the ambivalences and confusions that women in militaries have provoked—among officials, directors, scriptwriters, and audiences—over two generations. I have learned so much from
Soldiers’ Stories.”—
Cynthia Enloe, author of
Nimo’s War, Emma’s War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War“...
Soldiers’ Stories does more than fill a gap. It joins a wider discussion on how gendered assumptions persist amid women’s rising presence in the real-life military and other areas of American life. As Tasker aptly puts it, even in our own time “the military woman still requires explanation” (p. 236). Thus the ultimate implication of the work is that purveyors of culture, and presumably much of the public, continue to regard the female soldier as a paradox—not quite a soldier, Tasker tells us, but not quite a woman either.” -- Andrew J. Huebener * American Historical Review *
“[A] provocative and important book…. [A] valuable study, clear in its purpose, and well supported by research…. [Tasker] has written a comprehensive social and cultural history of how we’ve been asked to view women in the military since World War II.” -- Jeanine Basinger * Journal of American Studies *
“All the chapters are impeccably researched and meticulously detailed, but it’s Tasker’s attention to small particulars, the kind many casual observers might miss (such as an offhand reference to a beauty parlor or the importance of costumes in ‘transformation narratives’), and the complicated conclusions she draws, even when the films (or television shows) seem superficial on the surface, that really make the text. . . . Reading Tasker’s analyses of these texts could make many rethink what is considered ‘entertaining’ at the expense of women.” -- Catherine Ramsdell * PopMatters *
“Attentive to issues of race and class as well as gender, and sensitive to the range of volatile topics associated with the figure of the military woman, including violence, sexuality, and nationality,
Soldiers’ Stories conscientiously provides the military woman a well-deserved visibility in cinema and media studies.” -- Elaine Roth * Journal of American History *
“I don’t see how anyone can do serious scholarship that involves feminism and/or gender and/or film without having read Tasker.” -- Carol Wical * Media International Australia *
“Richly illustrated, the book carefully explains the evolution f the icons, showing the provocation sof women soldiers not only to their collegial male warriors but also to the cultural values of both genders in both countries. . . . Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.” -- R. A. Champagne * Choice *
Table of ContentsList of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xiii
A Provocative Presence: Military Women in Visual Culture 1
Part One 19
1. Auxiliary Military Women 23
2. Invisible Soldiers: Representing Military Nursing 71
Part Two
3. Musical Military Women 115
4. Women on Top: Comedy, Hierarchy, and the Military Woman 139
5. Military Women and Service Comedy:
M*A*S*H and
Private Benjamin 173
Part Three 201
6. Controversy, Celebration, and Scandal: Military Women in the News Media 205
7. Conflict over Combat: Training and Testing Military Women 235
8. Scandalous Stories: Military Women as Victims, Avengers, and Investigators 255
Afterword 277
Notes 281
Bibliography 301
Index 309
