GROUND ZERO: The Gender Wars in the Military [Hardcover]

Linda Bird Francke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 1997

A timely study of women in the military examines the confrontation between the political forces of equal opportunity and a hostile military culture, discussing women's military roles, their impact, and the problems confronting military women. 30,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When women enter a traditionally male profession, their competence always comes under fire. Nowhere is this more marked than in the American military, where those immersed in the warrior culture remain staunchly convinced that women can't cut it--can't hump as much equipment, can't make split-second decisions, can't shoot straight, and shouldn't, in fact, be asked to do so because such participation would spark confusing cultural dissonance. If men are cast as protectors and women as caretakers, it's impossible to stomach the thought that women could be taken prisoner, leave their children for a war zone, or shoot to kill. Journalist Linda Bird Francke raises many excellent questions in this timely, blistering tour through a military landscape rife with sexism, harassment, and outright denial that women can and have played crucial roles in combat.

From Booklist

Francke's study of gender integration in the U.S. armed forces fills a gap created by the stupendous ineptness of the mainstream media at handling the issues involved but doesn't fill it as well as many might wish. It is excellent insofar as it presents much little-known material; for instance, the amount of combat U.S. servicewomen saw in Panama, the virtual nonexistence of pregnancy as a serious barrier to women's service, the pros and cons of being a single-parent servicewoman, and so forth. Unfortunately, it presents such nuggets in a silt of psychobabble and feminist rhetoric that will alienate many, or at least make them skim over those passages and their smothered valuables. The two chapters on sexual harassment are particularly appalling, because of the large amount of it they document and because of the male-bashing they compel us to wade through. Despite its informational value, this title represents a classic case of justifiable outrage that results in overheated, preaching-to-the-choir-type journalism. Roland Green

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (June 12, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684809745
• ISBN-13: 978-0684809748
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,548,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak, biased analysis on gender issues in the military., August 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: GROUND ZERO: The Gender Wars in the Military (Hardcover)

If you want a classic example of a book where the conclusions are written first, then selected facts, statistics, and anecdotes are assembled to support it, this book is for you. If, however, you're looking for an objective assessment of how well gender integration has proceeded (and how far it should proceed), there are far better books around.

Compared to the slightly more recent "A Kinder, Gentler Military" by Stephanie Gutmann, Francke's book pales in comparison. Gutmann, like Francke, is a civilian female who had little contact with the military before researching her topic. She really got her hands dirty, going to army posts, watching basic training firsthand, going aboard Navy ships, talking to the "grunts" all the while. Anyone who deals with ANY military will tell you getting "down and dirty" with enlisted personnel and junior officers is the only way to get straightforward, honest answers, and Gutmann paints a picture that often argues against further forced gender integration.

Francke, on the other hand, appears to have researched her book completely within the confines of the beltway. Her information seems drawn totally from other books and journals, congressional and other government-appointed committees, and other like-minded groups and individuals in the feminist community. Needless to say, her book lacks first-hand credibility and frequently degenerates into outright male-bashing.

Bottom line: Francke's book is every bit as biased and distorted as the ultraconservative Brian Mitchell's works, "Weak Link" and "Women in the Military: Flirting With Disaster." Like most assessments of gender integration issues, Francke's is hopelessly tainted by a left-wing bias that distorts the book from the first page.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars reverse sexism in gender warfare, December 31, 2000

By 

Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GROUND ZERO: The Gender Wars in the Military (Hardcover)

Here's the perfect companion to Brian Mitchell's notorious "Flirting With Disaster"! Male-bashing against misogyny... well, turnabout may be fair play, but it doesn't make for enlightened reading. Punch for punch, Francke takes on Mitchell in his own arena. Like her nemesis, she employs carefully selected and suspisciously skewed statistics to prove her point, which is that women are indeed qualified for any and all military roles. And that any and all problems in the gender-integrated service are exclusively the result of male sexism and promiscuity. Francke capably counters Mitchell's employment of anecdote, albeit here favorably toward servicewomen. But she also puts heavy PostFeminist emphasis on "victimization", unwittingly supplying ammo to her opponant's charge that women cannot cope in a "warrior culture". Unlike Mitchell, Francke does not attempt to couch her gender prejudices in a witty writing style. Her book's very angry tone is difficult to read. That's unfortunate. "Ground Zero" has some worthwhile insight into an important topic, but unfortunately most of it gets lost in the "Gender War".

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some interesting points, but a lot left unsaid or ignored, June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: GROUND ZERO: The Gender Wars in the Military (Hardcover)

Actually, the statistics are what I found most interesting in the book. The author seemed to feel that all the problems that women and the military are having are due to sexism. Other issues, such as the very high attrition rates of women, the much higher injury and disability rates, the much lower availability etc etc are all put down to some sort of sexism. Politically correct, but unfortunately a lot of untruths and truths not stated.