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Valiant, Vicious, or Virtuous? Representation, and the Problem of Women Warriors

  • Chapter
Interrogating Imperialism

Abstract

In 2004, the U.S. Defense Department released a report prepared by a task force appointed to investigate complaints of sexual abuse by U.S. military men on U.S. military women stationed in the war zone. The task force was appointed in response to 112 complaints of sexual assaults on U.S. servicewomen by U.S. servicemen in the Middle East over an 18-month period (Clemtson 2004:1; Weiser 2004:1). As of this writing, over 40 U.S. military women have died in Iraq and more than 230 have earned Purple Hearts for being wounded in battle (Sisk 2004:43). In 2005, PFC Lynndie England faced court-martial for her role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Also in 2005, the most visible military hero/ine to emerge from the war on Iraq, Jessica Lynch, acquired a new career as a motivational speaker and has since begun work toward a degree at the University of West Virginia.

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Authors
  1. Robin L. Riley
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Robin L. Riley Naeem Inayatullah

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© 2006 Robin L. Riley and Naeem Inayatullah

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Riley, R.L. (2006). Valiant, Vicious, or Virtuous? Representation, and the Problem of Women Warriors. In: Riley, R.L., Inayatullah, N. (eds) Interrogating Imperialism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230601710_8

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