Customer Reviews

One of the Guys: Women as Aggressors and Torturers

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If you are open to honest evaluations of the so-called "few bad apples," then you'll find this book worth reading.

The anthology opens with an essay by Barbara Ehrenriech, where she admits her shock that women were torturers. Her essay drips with essentialist tendencies, yet I think many would nod their heads in agreement thinking that "women are better than this, women would change the ethos in the military."

Many of the other essays avoid the essentialist trope and address the hegemonic masculinity in the military and how the top down approach influences the culture. Other essays look at the issue of class, race, nativist politics and more.

The book has a few more theoretical pieces that really added to the volume (these are in the last third or so of the text). Cynthia Enloe's aftwerword is a must read, as well.

The book is written for a learned lay audience and would work well in the classroom. I think I'm going to adopt it for my Gender and Politics class.