What do gender-sensitive lenses tell us about war?War depends on telling gendered war stories based in a logic of protection, and on silencing or deligitimizing stories that challenge them

Where are the women?If women are present in the LOTR, their roles tend to be minor

What work is masculinity doing?Strategies and relationships among the Fellowship are highly masculinized

Members are all unmarried, and the group is hierarchically structured

How can the hero storybe challenged?The story of the LOTR is told from Frodos perspective, but what about other narratives which might be messier than Frodos view?

Hobbits illustrate how gendered and hierarchical relationships can perpetuate insecurity and inequality for feminized dependents

People who are not recognized as important actually do influence key events in significant waysEowyn and Merry emerge as unexpected heroes in the Battle of Pelennor Fields

Dehumanizing or feminizing enemies allows for projecting of dominating relationships onto the international relations between groups

World War 1 was seen as a cure for societys ills and a way to promote positive masculine values

Masculinized, militarized nationalism promoted beliefs that war would be quick and easy because our men were superior

Just warriors were called on to defend defenseless women and children (beautiful souls) from bad guys (barbaric Germans)

The decision of potential recruits whether or not to enlist was determined by their manliness

Jus ad bellum(just reasons)

Requires that war be fought only for reasons characterized by right intention, just cause, right authority, proportionality of ends, and for last resort

Jus in bello (just conduct)

Requires that war be conducted only when noncombatants are insured immunity, and when wars do more good than harm

A redefinition of reasonable chance of success should include Justice in the longer term during and after war

Gendered relations of power imbue politics

Politics are gendered whether that means gendered perceptions, gendered institutions, gendered narratives or otherwise

*Female characters are largely absent or hidden

Galadriel and Eowyn are the exception, and Arwen makes an appearance*Each race in Middle-earth is individually organized in ways that support the domination of masculine actors and institutions over feminized onesComposition of leadership groupsCertain kinds of masculinity are depicted as inferior to the dominant masculinityCertain races are underestimated because of their minimized/feminized status (Hobbits)

Hierarchical relationships Wizzards, men, elves, then Hobbits and dwarves

Assuming that gendered relationships of domination are normal, stable and unchanging (a central flaw in traditional IR approaches) Limits our ability to understand and predict issues of gender and global affairs (both in the real world and in the LOTR)----- Meeting Notes (6/14/12 18:02) -----Get married only after the "real work" is done

*Ways the story could be challenged: Private sphere which fellowship tries to defend may actually make some people insecure might reduce womens domestic security could limit opportunities for public engagement or work could support exploitative relationships among different races Frodo probably underestimated the costs involved, focusing on the costs to the Fellowship rather than costs on the home front

Focusing on one hero story while ignoring or minimizing the lives, influence, and insights of others in the story distorts our understanding of what (really) occurred, and limits our ability to predict or plan for the future----- Meeting Notes (6/14/12 18:02) -----Main character is really the "ring" - and the main villain is an "eyeball"

*Hobbits are seen as being like children Later accomplishments by Pippin and Merry suggest that assumptions that certain kinds of people are inherently dependent are wrong

Dependency is based in unequal relationships which assume that some kind of hero will save the day *Individual women have been able to impact the political process in ways beyond (and without) men

*Intersection of personal friendships: Members of Fellowship allowed into Elvish forest because theyre friends of Legolas When Frodo tries to set out alone, Aragorn remains determined to help his abducted friends Pippin becomes servant to Denethor because of his friendship/loyalty to Boromir Frodos completion of the Quest would have been impossible without Sam (and Gollum)

*The doctor wrongly rejects the utility of a medicinal herb which Aragorn later uses to save Frodos life (importance of old wives tales) keep in memory word of things that were once needful for the wise to know

*Gender-blind analysis cannot adequately explain international politics Feminist analysis shows how gendered institutions constitute or create the foundation for global political processes What assumptions about gender make it possible for some to exaggerate offensive capabilities and therefore engage in counterproductive offensive military strategies?----- Meeting Notes (6/14/12 18:02) -----"cult of the offensive"

*Overwhelming tendency to interpret developments in military technology as offensiveWhen military technology is interpreted as defensive, its role is downplayedOverestimation of offensive capabilities

----- Meeting Notes (6/14/12 18:02) -----Militarized masculinity

*British and French planes primarily used single-combat attack, while Germans flew in squadrons*Inappropriately aggressive military strategies were made possible by militarized masculinity and nationalism Values associated with hegemonic masculinity (bravery, strength, courage, control) are favored over restraintMen are not simply more aggressive than womenMilitary training and installment of martial values in men are sources of aggressive policies

*Military recruiting posters framed Germans as brutes abducting fainting, half-naked women

*British government tried to promote traditional gender roles to maintain its colonial empire

German wanted to conquer (and fulfill its destiny of superiority over) the inferior peoples of Europe*Gendered narratives:British government tried to promote traditional gender roles to maintain its colonial empireGerman wanted to conquer (and fulfill its destiny of superiority over) the inferior peoples of Europe

*British warriors defending women and childrenVulnerable female body was seen as main cause of warSensationalized accounts of 1914 Rape of Belgium*Peer pressure played a significant role**Enloe Nimos War, Emmas War how unexpected theaters of operation including marriage, sexual assault, prostitution, ethnic politics and sexist economies, more clearly and accurately illuminate the causes, consequences, costs and meanings of war

(This photo) After her husband was killed in the Iraq war, this 18-year old womans family tried to sell her to a local brothelProstitution is often normalized during and after war women become sexual servants for military forces (e.g. for the U.S. during times of occupation)

*State officials consistently and strategically underestimate the costs of militarization and war

Expectation that women and men will make the necessary sacrifices, but often dont consider costs paid by military wivescredit card debt, delayed entry into workforce (Stop Loss policy), increased costs of dealing with marital stresstime women are expected to take off to help care for returning injured veterans

*Bombing of beauty salons Beauty shops often run by womenSome salons allowed men to work on womens hairBeautification of women seen as sinful by someFemale-owned (and those with female clientele) businesses seen as unimportant, so police hesitant to investigate and women unable to borrow money to rebuild

*Just war principles have been defined and interpreted in gendered way that limits their moral weight and practical utilitySupport insidiously abstract understandings of gruesome wars by casting men and women into heroic or dependent rolesWomen are often invisible and subordinated in construction and application of Just War doctrineNeed to bring emotional experience of war back in belligerents attempt to empathetically understand opposition positionsDuring Iraq War, US told story of heroism and rescue, but was much longer and messier than gendered story suggestsPolitical context that constructed and sustained Iraq was itself both gendered and unjustUS prioritized short-term military victory over long-term stability, allowing it to minimize other effects of war making (nonfatal injuries, etc.)

* *Need to ask who war-targeting strategies will affect and how in a more responsible way including noncombatants who may not specifically be targeted

*The UN estimated that up to 1.7 million Iraqis may have died as a result of the sanctions; 500,000 of them were children, by 2003.*Through empathetic war-fighting, the emotional experience of war is brought back in, promoting more ethical scholarship based in a feminist ethic of care

Assessing war as a continuum of violenceMultiple paradigms and levels of analysis are interlinkedIn both LOTR and real world, gendered assumptions influence context, causes, conduct, and consequences for war

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