The Kinder, Gentler Military: How Political Correctness Affects Our Ability to Win Wars [Paperback]

Stephanie Gutmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2001

The Kinder, Gentler Military is a devastating critique of how and why the military-the most tradition-bound, masculine institution in the United States--spent the 1990s in a tortured attempt to reform its time--proven warrior culture into a new, politically correct value system, which is decimating morale in our armed forces.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When the Marines dropped their famous slogan, "We're looking for a few good men," and replaced it with "The few, the proud, the Marines," they weren't just eliminating a worn-out ad campaign--they were pursuing a controversial social agenda. "The nineties were a decade in which the brass handed over their soldiers to social planners in love with an unworkable (and in many senses undesirable) vision of a politically correct utopia, one in which men and women toil side by side, equally good at the same tasks, interchangeable, and, of course, utterly undistracted by sexual interest," writes journalist Stephanie Gutmann. The Kinder, Gentler Military--an expanded version of a cover story Gutmann wrote for The New Republic--is a devastating critique of the military's sex-integration efforts. She reports of women "allowed to come into basic training at dramatically lower fitness levels and then to climb lower walls, throw shorter distances, and carry lighter packs when they got there." This has led to problems in the field: during the Gulf War, says Gutmann, "men in many units took over tearing down tents or loading boxes because most of the women simply couldn't or wouldn't do these chores as fast." Liberals will accuse Gutmann of hostility to feminism, but her strong blend of reporting and analysis overcomes that charge by describing the frustrations of women who want to contribute to the military's old-fashioned warrior culture, not its newfangled Peace Corps mentality. The Pentagon doesn't want you to read The Kinder, Gentler Military; that's all the more reason why you should. --John J. Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"New and Noteworthy Paperback" -- New York Times' Sunday Book Review, 10/2001

"Noteworthy Non-fiction of 2000" -- New York Times' Sunday Book Review,

...an impassioned defense of the warrior culture and the vision of masculinity it sustains. -- The New York Times Book Review, Carol Gilligan

...identifies the "risk-craving, "edge-courting soldiers" on whom success in the field, and in the planning rooms, depends. ...does not rule out the aptitude of some women for the killer role... -- Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2000

...tough-minded writer...ruthlessly dissects American military policy...in her outstanding new book, The Kinder, Gentler Military.... -- The Detroit News, March 29, 2000

Col. David Hackworth (Ret.) author of About Face and Hazardous Duty What the British longbow did to the French army at Crecy in 1346, the failed military policy on gender integration has done to the U.S. armed forces at the end of the twentieth century: near total destruction. Gutmann's brilliant book must be read by all caring Americans and its cogent message be urgently transmitted to all our lawmakers. -- Review

Gutmann...tours boot camps and aircraft carriers; haunts the hearing rooms of the military's gender advisory boards; and talks to soldiers, sailors and airmen (male and female)....and she raises questions that demand to be answered. [She] has written a highly charged polemic that rips through public relations cant like a tank breaking telephone poles...Still, Gutmann is no extremist in these matters. She offers a set of policy recommendations -- one of which would be to eliminate sexual recruitment quotas -- that would keep the armed forces open to any and all who meet the necessary high standards. ....Since the latest phase of the integration of women began, the armed forces have not had to fight a long, tough war against a strong foe......If such a war comes and the gentler military does not do well, Gutmann's hard-headed book will have provided an early-warning signal. -- New York Times, March 24, 2000

Stephanie Gutmann's new book, The Kinder, Gentler Military, debunks the received wisdom [that resistance to raising the proportion of women in the military is inherently sexist] through first-rate reporting on the reality of the contemporary military. There is, as it turns out, a simple reason why academic studies and official commissions cannot get at the truth in this area: in the wake of the 1991 Tailhook scandal, which ended the careers of many navy officers who were found to have been insufficiently vigilant in rooting out sexual harassment, the military has become one of the most politically correct of all American institutions. -- Francis Fukuyama, author The End of History and the Last Man, Commentary, February 2000 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554333
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554337
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,283,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent & Provocative Discussion: On Target!, April 1, 2000

By 

Mark Beres (Suffolk County, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars (Lisa Drew Books) (Hardcover)

Many of you who are looking at this book to be a caustic rebuke of feminism may find this book dissapointing. Ms Gutmann's primary thesis is that the military's integration of women at all levels has changed the military culture. She persuasively argues that this culture change has substantially weakened our military's ability to fight and win our nations battles. She uses several examples throughout the book and I have to say that for a woman who has never been in uniform her facts and descriptions of the armed forces are impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and couldn't agree with her more. As a last note, she writes an excellent review of the entire Tailhook scandal which is noteworthy in my mind. Bravo!

54 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The kinder, gentler military. By Stephanie Guttman., April 27, 2000

By 

ARTHUR S. KURKOWSKI - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars (Lisa Drew Books) (Hardcover)

Great book! Finally, someone with some sense tells the truth about the embarrassing state of our armed forces. This book is an interresting and objective overview of the effects of the forced integration of women into the services during the 90s. Spending 1994-1998 in the Marine Corps myself, I have to sadly admit that I have witnessed those effects myself. I liked this book because it was written by a civilian woman, in a totally unbiased way. It is full of great examples, most of which were startling to me. This book tells the sad truth, and should be read by any citizen who cares for our beloved country, especially former and current service members, veterans, and, of course,the feminnists. It is an outrage that we, as a society, can allow such weakening of the very forces which are charged with providing us with protection. Our military is becoming a joke, and in the end the joke will be on all of us. If you care about the safety of your family and your country, this book is a must- read. It is an eye-opener. I give great thanks to the author.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Emperor's New Clothes, June 21, 2000

By 

Highlander (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars (Lisa Drew Books) (Hardcover)

I discussed Gutmann's book with a friend who is quite liberal; I am not. I reviewed her main points, and, as ususal, we disagreed. In a remarkable parallel to the text, our conversation went something like: "War is a human experience that men are best genetically programmed and adapted to conduct" - "That is a sexist, incorrect, and undefensible position"; "Women are not physically or culturally identical to men in the tasks required of war" - "It doesn't matter, the tasks can be reengineered"; "The agenda of radical feminists is to alter the military without regard to combat readiness" - "Get used to it; things are changing and military men must change with the times"; "Male warriors are disenchanted with social engineering at the cost of declining combat capability" - "Then they can leave"; "They are indeed leaving, and in huge numbers" - "Good riddance to those dinosaurs"; "What happens when we have a war?" - "There won't be any more wars."; "What then is the purpose of the military" - "To provide jobs and opportunities in an area previously denied to women and to manage the few minor conflicts using technology rather than blood." Gutmann convincingly argues that the Emperor, if not yet naked, is shedding his military uniform right in front of us and happily describing his trendy new clothes, while the court syncopants marvel at his revolutionary and morally correct fashion. If the crowd is heard snickering, the palace guard moves in until the crowd quiets. If you listen, as Gutmann has done, to the whispering voices in the crowd, solid citizens are saying, "He's gonna be stark naked pretty soon!". Having been in the military as an enlisted Marine and as an Air Force officer, passage after passage, source after source in Gutmann's book resonated with me. Her compelling question is whether a feminized, sanitized, politicized military can fight and win, and thereby justify our nation's expense and sacrifice. Gutmann doesn't take a position; rather, she goes to the mid and junior level officers and mid-level enlisted personnel and, in a politically correct manner, lets their voices be heard. And, in an equally politally correct manner, at least half of her sources are women. I have many friends and contacts in the military and, after reading "A Kinder, Gentler Military" I have a better understanding of their discouragement and frustration in trying to keep their units combat oriented and mentally and physically ready -- and I understand better why young officers and enlisted people are leaving -- in droves. For anyone interested in our national defense, how our tax dollars are being spent in achieving it, and whether we can fight and win, Gutmann is a highly recommended read.