Learning how to be a woman in the Canadian Forces/unlearning it through feminism: an autoethnography of my learning journey

Abstract

Gender plays a significant role in the experiences of workers within organizations. This is particularly true for women in non-traditional roles as they constantly struggle with gender barriers that are so ensconced in certain organizations and in society as to be accepted without question. Using an autoethnographical account, I explore the implications of my experience as a woman in the non-traditional role of a military member. First, I will discuss the importance of speaking from a first-hand, subjective position, and will briefly explore how we learn to be men and women through socialization processes in current western society. Then I will focus on how I learned to be a military member in a male organization and will examine how women's bodies and emotions separate women from men. I conclude with a discussion of how learning about feminist theories provoked me to begin to make connections between my experience and larger societal issues that had previously been invisible to me.

Sincere thanks to Patricia Gouthro and the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.

Notes

A preliminary version of this paper was presented as part of a panel discussion at the Atlantic Regional Canadian Association for Studies in Adult Education (CASAE) 2002 conference.