Student Constructions of the Gendered Body at a Public Military Academy

• In Event: Against Inclusion: Resisting School Militarization in the Name of Gender Justice

Abstract

Morning formation proceeds like clockwork at a Public Military Academy (PMA), a college-preparatory high school that requires four years of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) participation. Black and Latina/o students’ march in unison, their bodies appear as one. Chins up, chest out, shoulders back; while standing at attention. Platoon Sergeants serving as student leaders inspect uniforms. A few students sneak a chat with a friend. If caught, their Platoon Sergeant makes them drop for 10 push-ups, a punishment the students call “being dropped.” Platoon Sergeants conclude formation by calling out, “Platoons are you motivated?” Energetically, 100 students sound off,

“Motivated, motivated down right motivated.
You check us out. You check us out.
Smooth Sergeant.”

Of significance, six of the seven students leading morning formation identify as young women of color. Although the military’s institutional identity is hyper-masculinist (EnLoe, 2000; Segal & Bourg, 2005) and males are the majority population at this PMA, the young women dominate JROTC leadership. Moreover, through repetition of practical learning (Crossley, 2005), I observed their bodies embrace a newfound confidence, as one freshman female student explains, “At first I knew I was messing up on leading the drills, but then I just got it. It’s like it brings you out more than you ever knew you had inside of you.” Witnessing such physical transformation led me to consider how the body can become a vehicle for empowerment and militarization simultaneously. Specifically, this study explores student constructions of the gendered body at a Chicago PMA.

Student focus groups, individual JROTC instructor interviews, and researcher observations serve as the primary data sources of this ethnographic case study. Csordas (1993) conceptualization of “somatic modes of attention” serves as a framework for interpreting how the students’ bodies became socialized to the military structure and in turn, how their embodied habits gave them a sense of agency over expected gender norms at school.

Using a constant comparison analytic method (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995), the data reveal differences in how female and male students embody habits of appearance, discipline, and leadership. Moreover, the gendered body at this PMA relies on a neutral approach to masculinity, which by default strengthens the “masculine conception of the military body” (Godfrey, Lilley, Brewis, 2012, p. 545).

The neoliberal economic context juxtaposed with a public school system that is perceived as failing supports a logic that accepts PMAs as a viable educational alternative. Historical record reminds us, “Militarization can come in many guises. It can ride on the back of a worthy cause,” (EnLoe, 2000, p.32). As such, it is important to interrogate the contradictions that emerge when young people feel empowered by militarized educational models. Learning within this military model of education is not simply a cognitive process, but also a somatic one that leaves traces of militarism in the students’ muscles and skeletons (Shapiro, 1999). The lessons learned from the students in this case can help us identify methods for creating spaces that do not rely on militarized embodiment to support student empowerment.

Author

• Heather L. Horsley, University of Illinois at Chicago