Bananas, Beaches And Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics

To operate, military bases depend on groups of diverse women, such as soldiers’ wives, enlisted women, and sex workers. The US has more military bases outside its borders than any other country. All military bases are gendered, and their workings are shaped by particular definitions of masculinity and femininity. Base commanders develop myriad policies and rules to perpetuate definitions of manliness and womanhood to serve military priorities. Policies address marriage, sexual assault, housing, curfews, and many other topics. Some policies aim to ensure that dissimilar women do not associate and thereby establish common cause. Enloe encourages feminists to observe the persistent convictions and new meanings on military bases over time.

If military bases insinuate themselves into a community, they can become invisible, and their gender dynamics may go unnoticed. The closing of such bases can sometimes incite nationalist celebration but can also lead to economic fears given the jobs they provide. During World War II, the US operated several bases in Great Britain. When British women began dating Black soldiers, the British reacted with alarm, labeling the women as “loose” and warning of venereal disease. Fearing the impact on sexual segregation in the postwar US, the American government accepted few British war brides of African American soldiers.