Sara Buttsworth

Body Count - Gender and Soldier Identity in Australia and the United States Sara Buttsworth

War and combat dominate our television screens, newspapers, and cinemas. War stories are omnipresent - and they are always gendered. This book is an exploration of the gendered body in combat in the late twentieth century, in Australia and the United States of America. Aspects of military history, and representations of war and warriors are used as the vehicle for the analysis of the politics of representing gender. In this work, the mythic, the material and the media(ted) body of the gendered warrior are examined in the realms of 'real' military histories and news coverage, and in the 'speculative' arena of popular culture. What are the continuities and ruptures inherent in the gendered narratives of war and warriors? Can understanding them expose the operation of gender politics in the public arena? This book will be of use to people interested in gender politics, popular culture, and representations of war.