Tenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

In a 2019 reality show, Special Air Service (SAS) recruit Louise challenged Nathan to a fight. Nathan punched Louise in the head. The task was described as an exercise in equality. “Nowhere is the notion of war as a man’s game more entrenched than in state militaries” (Basham 2016). “Simply put the infantry will be more effective in war if we include the best talent our country can breed - male and female” (MOD 2018). In 2016, women were invited to take up “close with and kill the enemy” fighting roles in the British military. The Ministry of Defense said these changes demonstrated equal opportunities. In the same year, the cultural theorist Victoria Basham wrote, “the relationship between armed forces and masculinities is possibly the most salient and cross-culturally stable aspect of gendered politics.” But are these representations either stable or entrenched? This paper focuses on a deconstructivist methodology through which I explore instabilities associated with the gender construction of military warriors on British television. In some of the original films that I deconstruct, masculinities are conveyed through comforting motifs of tea and belonging. In others, female soldiers perform hand to hand combat and physical endurance roles. This paper outlines an interdisciplinary inquiry, using art and film making practice, that critiques the ways in which themes of equality and inclusion are adopted for the promotion of military force.