Negotiating Gender: Female Combat Soldiers in Denmark

Abstract

Based on interviews with female combat soldiers, we explore what role conceptions of femininity and masculinity play for female Danish combat soldiers’ experiences and behaviour in the military community. We find that female combat soldiers’ status and ability to fulfil their potential as soldiers are determined by their capability to navigate expectations linked to their gender and their position as soldiers, respectively. Female combat soldiers must break down negative expectations linked to their gender while simultaneously and continuously navigating the limitations of forms of femininity accepted in the Danish Military.