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Deconstructing Gender Capital Involving Conversations of Male Military Sexual Trauma on Reddit

Sexuality & Culture volume 27, pages 591–607 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which men protect a masculine ideal as they discuss Military Sexual Assault. Rape is an under-reported crime, but significantly less likely reported by men who have been sexually assaulted. The Department of Defense released a report indicating a higher-than-expected number of reports of male-on-male sexual assault. Sexual assault in the military, referred to as Military Sexual Trauma (MST), is complicated by a rigid hierarchical system. I use Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze Reddit extracts made by military men discussing military sexual trauma, some of whom are victims. Forms of gender capital, represented through features of masculine discourse, are present in these extracts. Victimized men are less likely to use the word “rape” to define the experience and focus on other terminology that identify the violence of the experience or the structural dominance that demanded their compliance. In cases of military sexual assault, men reinforce hegemonic elements of gender capital by discursively evading sexual aspects of the violence and affirming homosexism, to distance themselves from the femininity they associate with being sexually violated. Militarized masculinities and their expectations demonstrate an unique relationship between men and their own victimization.

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    Steven Dashiell

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Dashiell, S. Deconstructing Gender Capital Involving Conversations of Male Military Sexual Trauma on Reddit. Sexuality & Culture 27, 591–607 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-10029-z

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