Military Gender Integration: The Unasked Question of Female Patriotism/ Eyal Lewin

Most of the discussions around the participation of women in the military have been framed in terms of tensions between democratic citizenship and military effectiveness. Democratic values of equality and non-discrimination are weighed against those of military necessity and readiness. The tendency to eliminate gender discrimination and equalize status between male and female service members prevails, although occupational restrictions still exist and women are still excluded from combat-related areas and functions. This article seeks to add to the discussion about military gender integration an understanding of the issue in a field that scholars, until now, did not cover: the question of whether women are more patriotic or less patriotic than men. Several steps are taken in this study: (1) Patriotism is briefly defined. (2) The case study of Israeli society is introduced. (3) Quantitative results of a large database from a national survey are presented. (4) The results of a qualitative inquiry are brought. The conclusive analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data shows that women are at least as patriotic as men, if not more so than men, and raises evidence that patriotism leads female warriors, at times, to outstanding military achievements.