Dissertation Research: The Evolving Gender Roles of Military Spouses, Effects of a Changing Society

9816117McKinnon / Harrell这个项目支持一位来自弗吉尼亚大学的人类学学生的论文研究，研究美国社会性别和婚姻角色的变化所带来的美国军队文化的变化。学生们将学习军队如何应对旧制度的变化。在旧制度下，军官被要求结婚，军官的妻子被要求提供至关重要但没有报酬的服务，以促进丈夫的职业发展，而士兵则被要求未婚。在当代军队中，军官和士兵不再都是男性；军官的妻子可能倾向于追求自己的事业，不太愿意为军队提供志愿服务，而且许多士兵都是已婚的。使用参与观察的人类学技术，结构化的长访谈和正式的生活史访谈，在两个陆军基地，每个基地集中一个营，学生将研究挑战和个人以及机构对性别和阶级角色变化的反应。这项研究很重要，因为它将促进我们对军队如何应对社会变革的理解。此外，它将有助于培养一名年轻的社会科学家。

9816117McKinnon / Harrell This project supports the dissertation research of an anthropology student from the University of Virginia, studying the change in the culture of the US military brought about by changes in gender and marital roles in US society. The student will study how the military is reacting to changes from the old system where officers were expected to be married and officers' wives were expected to provide vitally important but unpaid services to advance their husband's career, while enlisted men were expected to be unmarried. In the contemporary military, officers and enlisted personnel are no longer all male; officers' wives may tend to pursue their own careers and be less willing to perform volunteer services for the military, and many enlisted personnel are married. Using anthropological techniques of participant observation, structured long interviews and formal life history interviews, at two army bases focusing on one battalion at each base, the student will examine the challenge and the personal as well as institutional response to changing gender and class roles. This research is important because it will advance our understanding of how the military is coping with social change. In addition it will help train a young social scientist.