Power Resources Among Female Military Personnel

The Armed Forces are one of Sweden’sSweden largest governmental organizations and at the same time one of Sweden’s most genderGender-segregated and male-dominated workplaces. Recruiting more women into the organization is one of the organization’s main goals for personnel planning, along with providing them with more opportunities for career developmentCareer development. This study sought a deeper understanding of the power resourcesPower resources that can be identified and which are used by female military personnel within the armed forces. A total of 16 women were interviewed and their ranks ranged from soldier/sailor to general/admiral. The qualitative analysis of the interviews shows that female military personnel use power resources to adapt to the male-dominated organization’s demands and to even out perceived asymmetric power relationships in their daily professional work. The power resources can be explained using four themes: structural power resources, cultural and social power resourcesSocial power resources, emotional power resources, and minority perspective as a power resource. More female military personnel would have increased the task effectiveness of the military organization. To make that possible, the Swedish Armed ForcesSwedish Armed Forces would have to discuss the prevailing masculinity norm, the meaning of being a man, and the gains of a more gender-equal organization.</p

Silence‐breaking butterfly effect: Resistance towards the military within #MeToo

Systemic violence against women in the military has existed for decades, but they have mostly refrained from public resistance. However, in the context of the #Metoo‐movement in Sweden, 1768 women published a call for an end to violence and sexual harassment in the military. We analyze this call as a public resistance effort against the military and find that #Metoo is: 1) challenging the norms of the hyper‐masculine military organization, making resistance towards it visible, and 2) resisting the practices of sexual harassment and lack of responsibility in the military organization. The military organization is questioned when it comes to norms and practices, but there are variations in whether the social order of the military is truly challenged. Still, the call highlights the fragmentation of this “last bastion of masculinity”. More research is needed on the erosion of the militarized norms and practices and the effects of the call.</p