CANS 406 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Heteronormativity, Contagious Diseases Acts, Vietnamese Americans
22 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Gender and the conduct of Foreign Policy II: United States
-Dean: Understanding foreign policy in the Cold War era under the Kennedy administration
requires analysis of how gender shaped policy reasoning
-Internalized “ideals of manliness” shaped treat perception
-Fear of being seen as “unmanly” influenced cost-benefit calculations in threat response
-Refusing to fight the communists in Vietnam would be seen as unmanly
-Gender not an independent cause of particular policy decisions, but part of the fabric of
reasoning of elite decision-makers
-Gender is not the only decisive factor here
-Dean refers to this as ideology of masculinity, a cultural system that both prescribes and
proscribes certain things
-A boundary drawn around the category of legitimate manhood – within these borders,
the claims to power and prestige are seen as acceptable (form of imperial masculinity)
-This vision of manhood was shaped by boarding schools, fraternities, military service
-Negative experiences were reframed from suffering to ‘ordeals’, reframing in a more positive,
tough image
-The Ugly American was a cultural touchstone that captured fears about Americans losing
masculinity
-Dean is interested in what an intersectional analysis tells us about the foreign policy of the
Kennedy administration
-Heteronormativity shaping foreign policy – aligning with these ideals was a part of a claim to
legitimacy
-Being gay or being seen as gay meant the death of political careers
-Militarized prostitution seen as essential to maintaining American engagement in South Korea
-Bananas, Bases and Beaches (Enloe): stresses that if we want to understand military prostitution
and how it has shaped military forces/engagements, we need to look at the range of roles that
women in different circumstances have played in base life
-Military wives and girlfriends: women who may be living on the base or far away
-Women in the military
-Civilian women working on the base, military prostitutes
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Gender and the conduct of foreign policy ii: united states. Dean: understanding foreign policy in the cold war era under the kennedy administration requires analysis of how gender shaped policy reasoning. Fear of being seen as unmanly influenced cost-benefit calculations in threat response. Refusing to fight the communists in vietnam would be seen as unmanly. Gender not an independent cause of particular policy decisions, but part of the fabric of reasoning of elite decision-makers. Gender is not the only decisive factor here. Dean refers to this as ideology of masculinity, a cultural system that both prescribes and proscribes certain things. A boundary drawn around the category of legitimate manhood within these borders, the claims to power and prestige are seen as acceptable (form of imperial masculinity) This vision of manhood was shaped by boarding schools, fraternities, military service. Negative experiences were reframed from suffering to ordeals", reframing in a more positive, tough image.
