Towards women integration into Argentina?s Armed Forces. Definition of the military service in a politically changing context?.

FREDERIC, SABINA

Maribor

Congreso; International Sociological Association; 2012

This paper focuses on the differences between the incorporation and the integration of women into Argentina?s Armed Forces. Women have been incorporated into the Armed Forces in Argentina since 1970: they were first incorporated as sub-officers; then, in the 80?s as members of the Professional Corps (as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and others); in 1995, as volunteer soldiers; and finally, at the end of the 90?s, as members of the Command Corps? support. During the last decade an intense debate about the meaning of women?s military integration took place between civil and military authorities. One of the topics of the debate was women?s combatant role restriction. Curiously, the right to have equal opportunities was not the main concern of military women. The main concern was the need to pull the Armed Forces out of the depths into which they had sunk after the military dictatorship (1976-1983) and the Malvinas? War (1982). The debate took place mainly within the Council of Gender Policies which was created by the Ministry of Defence in 2006, and whose members are military women, ONG leaders, and gender experts. This council was in charge of giving the Minister advice about integration of military women on how to manage issues such as: tensions between private and labour life, sexual and labour abuse versus command requirements, obstacles to career promotions, pregnancy leave, and standards for physical performance differentiated by sex or role. This paper will analyze in what way the debate about women?s integration and the normative changes that were applied then, introduced a sort of tension between an administrative understanding of the military service that views its employees as any other civil servant, and another that underlies the military command requirements.