Title:
Investigating factors related to military culture, gender and queer identity in the United States Air Force
Author:
Megan Lee Houk
Thesis Advisor:
Frank D. Golom
Committee Member:
Carolyn M. Barry
Committee Member:
Adanna J. Johnson-Evans
Committee Member:
Stephen E. Fowl
Committee Member:
Melinda. Capaldi
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2019
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
born digital
Abstract:
Military culture includes ideals that are steeped in tradition, including a warrior ethos, establishment and enforcement of hierarchy, uniformity and masculinity (Allsep, 2013; Hall, 2008; Moore, 2011; Redmond et al, 2014). There was a time in military history that specific groups of individuals, such as women and those who identify with as queer or transgender, were not allowed to serve in the military (DOD, 1982; Pennington, 2008). Legislation allowing both women and members of the LGBT community to serve has changed over the last several decades, and throughout this process, the steadfast culture of the military has resisted this seemingly progressive legislation (Executive Order No. 9981, 1948; Burelli, 2012; Cushman, 2012; Ring, 2016; Rizzo and Cohen, 2010). The interplay of military culture and federal policy affecting service members with minority sexual orientation and gender identities has not been researched and is a current gap in the literature. This study explored lesbian identified USAF service members’ perceptions and experiences of military culture and recent legislation impacting the LGBT military community. The study utilized semi-structured interviews of ten lesbian-identified service or veteran members to explore the potential impact of military culture on their identity as a woman and as a lesbian. The researcher utilized interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyze transcripts of interviews and develop emergent themes and then cross-referenced those themes. Results indicated the development of themes related to the impact of hyper-masculinity on lesbian USAF service women’s experiences, the experience of hiding sexual orientation identity and the consequent compartmentalizing personal and professional life, fear and discrimination, and a sense optimism moving forward as a new generation of individuals assume leadership positions within the military hierarchy. Military culture pervaded most if not all experiences by the participants, but aspects of military culture also appeared to drive policies such as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) and other legislation impacting the LGBT military community. Although the experiences of the participants changed pre- and post-repeal of DADT, lingering themes of fear and discrimination remained, and appear to interplay with current administrative policies affecting the LGBT military community.
Subject:
Academic theses
Subject:
Electronic dissertations
Subject:
Thèses et écrits académiques
Subject:
Thèses électroniques
Subject:
dissertations
Degree:
Doctor of Clinical Psychology
Level:
Doctoral
Discipline:
Psychology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
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Identifier:
HoukML-19
