On the morning of Monday, Jan. 9, 2006, a 21-year-old Army specialist named Suzanne Swift went AWOL.
Look, folks: I don't know if I can make this simple recommendation of a story into a substantive diary, but I want to make sure this story gets read.
I want to make sure it gets read because, as a historian of modern and early-modern Europe, I know that in many cases, women carry the brunt of suffering in warfare. As I'm sure most of us know, war messes with social structures and gender norms in peculiar ways.
Think of the munitionettes in Britain during WW1. Their work was extremely dangerous: explosions killed at least 200 female munitions workers in Britain during WW1; others suffered TNT poisoning--all the time working for less than half wages, as compared to male workers. At the same time, as women moved (back) into the factory during WW1, many achieved a new psychological and material independence--no surprise that we see the brash, confident woman of the 1920s emerge after WW1.
But, now, when women are serving and sacrificing on the front lines, they continue to face demands on the home front driven by conservative gender roles. Read Corbett's account and see if you aren't angered, yet more, at the damage this foolish neo-con adventure is doing to so many many decent people.