Supporters or Saboteurs? US Active-Duty Servicewomen’s Husbands and Their Support Towards Their Wives’ Military Careers

• In Event: 40820 - Section on Sociology of Sex and Gender Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Gender and Work

Abstract

In this paper, I examine whether, and to what extent, the gender dynamics of military spousehood influence the levels of satisfaction of men married to United States active-duty servicewomen and their level of support for their wives’ military careers. I combine original quantitative data gathered through an online survey and qualitative data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 50 men and women in heterosexual marriages with active-duty servicewomen in the U.S. military. My preliminary findings suggest that while many men married to active-duty servicewomen do often struggle with navigating their masculine identities as they take on the non-traditional gendered family position of military spouse, more often than not, they report wanting their wives to remain in the military even when they believe their wives want to leave the military. The paper ends with a discussion of the additional work I plan to complete prior to the annual conference in August.

Author

• Seth Andrew Behrends, University of Illinois-Chicago