31 - Gendered Nations and Institutions

Summary

This chapter explores the gendered terrain of nationalism in two institutional locales: national museums and national militaries. We visit a major site in each of these destinations and find that they are historical and contemporary scenes of masculinist hegemony. While women have achieved some representation in many contemporary political institutions, they are up against a powerful history of male preeminence and female marginalization. Just as men and manliness are, and have long been, dominant features of national landscapes, women remain relatively invisible, ignored, and underrepresented except in instances of gender trouble, such as equal rights litigation, sexual assault prosecutions, and protest movements. The chapter argues that there has been some movement toward women’s inclusion in modern nations and states, though women’s presence often has been used to buttress the powerful masculinist foundations upon which national institutions rest.