Invisible Women: Junior Enlisted Army Wives [Paperback]

Margaret C. Harrell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0833028804 | ISBN-13: 978-0833028808 | Publication Date: January 30, 2001 | Edition: 1

The voices of three women convey the dilemmas faced by many young families in the armed services.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A compilation of extensive research and an excellent sociological study... Anyone in the military, especially those in positions of authority, will find Invisible Women a useful tool. Military leaders can take a glimpse into the personal lives of their troops, seeing just how they have to struggle and how families are impacted. They will find the women in the book both depict and challenge the stereotypes. While the military doesn't 'issue' spouses, it's important to recognize spouses as a part of the military even if they don't wear the uniform. Invisible Women reaffirms that.
Holly Fisher


Three women with one thing in common....Their stories paint a picture of the concerns of many junior enlisted families.
Karen Jowers


The stories provide insight into the experiences and attitudes of other junior enlisted families.
National Military Family Association, 4/1/02


Invisible Women confronts an issue crucial to military morale and readiness: the increasing number of married volunteers who today hold junior ranks historically filled by bachelor draftees, people who must struggle with low salaries, life on often-isolated bases, and 24-7 schedules distinctly unsuited to family life. But in the process of addressing this olive-drab dilemma, the author also opens new windows onto a host of other issues--abortion, work, debt, welfare, upward mobility--that resonate far beyond the military world. And this slim paperback illuminates not only policy, but humanity as well.
Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr.


Invisible Women is highly recommended reading for anyone considering family life within the context of military service, women's studies groups, and military life reference collections.
The Midwest Book Review, 6/1/02

From the Publisher

In the best of circumstances, military manpower policy is craftedby policymakers with input from military personnel managers, analysts,and military leadership with an in-depth understanding of thelife experiences and views of junior enlisted personnel. It is plausibleto expect that some policymakers attribute the attitudes and experiencesof these young soldiers to particular features, such as youth orlack of advanced education, and thus believe themselves able toempathize with this population group by recalling their own parallellife experiences. However, this approach oversimplifies the life experiencesof these families and neglects the reality that most policy-makersand professional managers have never experienced the compendiumof problems these couples face, such as youth, lack ofeducation, financial difficulties, emotional and physical distance fromextended family, and invisibility in a large bureaucracy.At the center of this book are the personal stories of three juniorenlisted spouses, told in their own voices and selected to emphasizethe dilemmas numerous enlisted families face. The stories provideinsight into the experiences and attitudes of some junior enlisted families.Those who live a military lifestyle-at any pay grade-will findthese stories both useful and engaging. Some junior enlisted personneland their spouses will recognize themselves in these stories, andothers in the military community will gain a better understanding ofproblems they may have seen. Additionally, these insights help providesome human context for official statistics and should be of interestto the military leadership; personnel managers; analysts; and policymakersinvolved in the recruiting, retention, and management ofjunior enlisted personnel and their families, as well as to Congressand the media.These stories were excerpted from a long series of interviews conductedduring research for a dissertation that addressed the roles andexperiences of Army spouses. This research included 105 recordedand transcribed interviews with military spouses, as well as less formalinterviews and discussions with military personnel, spouses, andother individuals in the military community. The author also spokewith numerous other spouses and soldiers during Enlisted SpousesClub meetings, Officers' Spouses Club meetings, visits to Army CommunityServices facilities, and various other gatherings. This researchalso included an extensive review of the archives of local military andcivilian newspapers.The dissertation research was supported in part by the Universityof Virginia's Center for Children, Families, and the Law; the NationalScience Foundation; RAND; and the Forces and Resources PolicyCenter of RAND's National Defense Research Institute, a federallyfunded research and development center sponsored by the Office ofthe Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Commands, andthe defense agencies. While the research was not part of a RANDproject and was not funded through the Department of Defense, theArmy officially acknowledged it and enabled it to occur. At each ofthe research locations, the author was formally acknowledged by thelocal military leadership and was approved for interviews and discussionswith military personnel, civilian Department of Defenseemployees, and military dependents. While the research was not partof a RAND project and was not funded through the Department ofDefense, the Army facilitated the interviews and discussions with militarypersonnel, civilian Department of Defense employees, and militarydependents.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Rand Publishing; 1 edition (January 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0833028804
• ISBN-13: 978-0833028808
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,952,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Inaccurate portrayal of enlisted families, July 13, 2001

By 

Daniel K Elder "[e-mail]" (Temple, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invisible Women: Junior Enlisted Army Wives (Paperback)

Though the author claims to have interviewed hundreds of spouses, she obviously choose the three that are the most appealing to someone of her stature (a former officer's wife) and has not displayed the insight for a true portrayal of the Invisible Women. Though the topic is great and many enlisted familes can see parts of themselves in some of the topics or issues, it is not a "typical" story of junior enlisted wives. It smacks of sensationalism and stories that keep the tabloids in business. Take this book with a grain of salt, and do not lump an entire group of junior enlisted spouses in the same category of these three women. This is NOT reality as we know it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars tells the story of a very small population, February 5, 2002

By 

mikayla (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invisible Women: Junior Enlisted Army Wives (Paperback)

She has no clue how to do research
First off, I am a military wife. I will say that these women have valid concerns, and that what they experienced is not always uncommon- however- they chose not use the hundreds of military resources that are available to us each and every day. The military knows about these concerns- this book has unmasked nothing. What it has done, is to further foster the society imposed sterotype that military wives are unintelliegent, unemployed baby factories with little to no problem solving skills. Three women HARDLY represent the whole- out of all she interviewed she specifically chose three gals who had it rough, and did not thrive. What about the privates wife who held a job, went to school, had a child, and eventually became a teacher for the Army? Why is SHE not in this book? People believe what they read- and for this author to come in and say she did extensive research, and the best she could find were these three women, then go to lable the book an all encompassing 'junior enlisted wives'--well, she may have claimed that the book's goal was to make the government aware of our strife- but madame, let me tell you, all you have truly done, is to set back all the hard work we have done, and put us back to facing the public as so called 'poor military wives.' By the way- I am that Private's wife mentioned above. On little money, I managed to pay the rent, and have food on the table while my husband was gone to Saudi. I worked part time, and went to school, and gave birth to my first child mid semester. I completed school with child in tow, and now teach in military schools. There are many more like me out there- perhaps you would like to write another book?

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars How not to be a military wife, August 8, 2002

By 

Jennifer R Wagnon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invisible Women: Junior Enlisted Army Wives (Paperback)

I'd like to point out, first of all, that I am an officer's wife. However, I have a much different perspective than that of the author. Apparently, she has known only a handful of enlisted spouses and is not aware of the many resources available in the community where she could have pointed these women toward for help rather than letting them flounder. I've seen enlisted women who went to college and held high paying jobs, I've seen those who were stay at home moms who made ends meet however they could, I've seen those who ran businesses, I've seen those who ran the post's spouses' club, their unit's Family Readiness Group or Red Cross chapters. This is a narrowly focused book, with a microscope on the worst of military life. What's sad is that no information was provided to the public on what help these wives could have found in the military community if they had reached out for help to the appropriate source.