Most female soldiers report that in-service body armour systems are too large. We investigated whether a smaller prototype body armour system could improve thoracolumbar range of motion (ROM) and ...reduce interference when female soldiers performed dynamic postures. 97 female soldiers completed three ROM tasks and seven dynamic postures wearing no armour, an in-service body armour system, and a smaller prototype system. Feedback on comfort of the prototype system was also obtained. Thoracolumbar ROM and dynamic posture completion were both hindered by using body armour, although the participants’ performances were significantly less impeded when they wore the smaller prototype system compared to the in-service system. A smaller body armour system that is better matched to the anthropometric dimensions of female soldiers appears to improve overall fit and function. An increased range of body armour sizes and female-specific designs should be systematically explored to further enhance fit and function of body armour.
•Thoracolumbar range of motion improved when participants wore a smaller prototype body armour system.•Interference during dynamic posture performance improved when participants wore a smaller prototype body armour system.•Findings support the notion that oversized body armour contributes to performance detriments reported by female soldiers.•The smaller prototype body armour system was rated as comfortable by most, but not all, female soldiers.•Researchers need to systematically explore smaller sizes and design modifications of body armour for female soldiers.
Design and development of contemporary military body armour has traditionally focused primarily on male soldiers. As the anthropometric body dimensions of male and female soldiers differ, we aimed to ...determine whether current body armour was meeting fit and functional requirements of female soldiers. One-hundred and forty-seven female Australian Defence Force soldiers completed a 59-item questionnaire regarding the fit and function of current body armour. Most (68%) participants reported wearing ill-fitting body armour, which was associated with increased total musculoskeletal pain and discomfort, as well as pain at the shoulders, abdomen, and hips. Body armour that was too large was more likely to interfere with task performance when it was integrated with a combat belt, as well as when female soldiers performed operationally representative tasks. Modifying body armour design and sizing to cater to the anthropometric dimensions of female soldiers is recommended.
•Sixty eight percent of participants reported wearing ill-fitting body armour, particularly oversized body armour.•Design and sizing modifications that cater for the anthropometric dimensions of female soldiers are recommended.•Ill-fitting body armour was associated with increased integration issues and movement interference.•Ill-fitting body armour was associated with increased total musculoskeletal pain and discomfort.
At War with Women reveals how post-9/11 politics of gender and development have transformed US military power. In the mid-2000s, the US military used development as a weapon as it revived ...counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military assembled all-female teams to reach households and wage war through development projects in the battle for "hearts and minds." Despite women technically being banned from ground combat units, the all-female teams were drawn into combat nonetheless. Based on ethnographic fieldwork observing military trainings, this book challenges liberal feminist narratives that justified the Afghanistan War in the name of women's rights and celebrated women's integration into combat as a victory for gender equality. Jennifer Greenburg critically interrogates a new imperial feminism and its central role in securing US hegemony. Women's incorporation into combat through emotional labor has reinforced gender stereotypes, with counterinsurgency framing female soldiers as global ambassadors for women's rights. This book provides an analysis of US imperialism that keeps the present in tension with the past, clarifying where colonial ideologies of race, gender, and sexuality have resurfaced and how they are changing today.
The purpose of this study was to determine if females and males use different hip and knee mechanics when walking with standardized military-relevant symmetric loads. Fifteen females and fifteen ...males walked on a treadmill for 2-min at a constant speed under three symmetric load conditions (unloaded: 1.71 kg, medium: 15 kg, heavy: 26 kg). Kinematic and kinetics of the hip and knee were calculated in the sagittal and frontal planes of the dominant limb. In females, hip abduction moments (normalized to total mass) and sagittal knee excursion decreased with increased load (p ≤ 0.024). In males, hip frontal excursion and adduction angle increased with load (p ≤ 0.003). Females had greater peak hip adduction angle than males in the unloaded and medium load conditions (p ≤ 0.036). Across sex, sagittal hip and knee excursion, peak knee extension angle, and peak hip and knee flexion angles increased with increased load (p ≤ 0.005). When normalized to body mass, all peak joint moments increased with each load (p ≤ 0.016) except peak hip adduction moment. When normalized to total mass, peak hip adduction moment and knee flexion, extension, and adduction moments decreased with each load (p < 0.001). While hip frontal plane kinetic alterations to load were only noted in females, kinematic changes were noted in males at the hip and females at the knee. Differences in strategies may increase the risk of hip and knee injuries in females compared to males. This study noted load and sex effects that were previously undetected, highlighting the importance of using military-relevant standardized loads and investigating frontal plane adaptations.
A Primeira Guerra Mundial foi um fenômeno de repercussão internacional que ocorreu em meio a inúmeras transformações nos âmbitos econômico, político, social e cultural. Sua repercussão no Brasil ...aconteceu principalmente a partir de 1917, quando, reagindo a uma agressão direta, o governo declarou guerra à Alemanha. Este artigo reflete os debates sobre a participação das mulheres na Guerra, nas funções de enfermeiras e soldadas. A formação da Legião Feminina da Morte, na Rússia, causou grande impacto ao mostrar ao mundo as imagens de mulheres trajando uniformes militares masculinos e participando em combates diretos. Da mesma forma, o apelo da Cruz Vermelha por voluntárias se transformou num clamor internacional. Em meio a tudo isso, havia ainda a agenda feminista e sufragista e as discussões sobre o papel da mulher na sociedade moderna.
The First World War had great repercussion worldwide, having occurred in the midst of numerous transformations in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres. The impact in Brazil happened mainly from 1917, when Brazil was directly assaulted by Germany and declared war to that country. This article reflects the debates about female participation in the War, whether as supporters, nurses or soldiers. The formation of the Women’s Legion of Death in Russia has made a major impact by showing the world the images of women in military uniforms and fighting in the battlefield. In the same way the appeal of the Red Cross by volunteers became an international clamor. In addition, there were the feminist and suffragist agenda and the discussions on the role of women in modern society.
Women serve in diverse roles in the 21st century militaries of the world. They are no longer banned from combat. The presence of women on the battlefield has raised religious arguments and ...considerations. What role do religious arguments play in the discussion regarding women’s military service? Using media, internal publications, as well as academic articles, the current paper examined this question in the context of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF): a conscription-based military that conscripts both men and women, religious and secular, for both combat and noncombat postings. Using the case of the pilot program in the IDF attempting to integrate women in the Israeli tank corps, as well as gauging the way religious men view this change, the paper argues that religious considerations serve the same purpose as functional considerations and can be amplified or lessened, as needed.
The U.S. Armed Forces have recently approved full integration of women into combat roles. Physical fitness demands for executing Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) are substantial; thus lifting ...and load carriage capability improvements are desirable.
To determine if a specially-designed physical conditioning program could lessen the gap between the performance of male and female Soldiers in lifting and load carriage and thereby enable women to meet the requirements of most, if not all, Army MOSs.
Forty women participated in a 24-week physical training program, which included resistance training, long-distance running, backpacking, and specialized drills. Pre- and post-tests of occupational and physical performance measures were conducted before and after training. Repeated measures analysis of variance were used to determine statistically significant differences among the pre-, mid- and posttests.
Women increased maximal occupational lifting strength 12–20 kg, added 9–34 repetitions in lifting endurance, increased 0.23 m in jumping performance, added 46 repetitions in local muscular endurance, and decreased load carriage for time by 3.7–8.6 min. Women scored within 82–94% of untrained male scores for aerobic capacity and muscular endurance after training.
Women’s ability to perform physically-demanding military occupational tasks was significantly improved following 6 months of concurrent training, with emphasis on load carriage and lifting. The percentage of women that qualified for current “heavy” and “very heavy” MOSs was initially 24%, but increased to 78% after training. A resistance training program of 6+ months can adequately prepare women for “heavy” to “very heavy” MOS’s.
Abstract
Background:
Stress fracture (SF) is a common injury among military recruits, especially among women, during the army basic training (ABT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ...effects of health habits and physical activity before recruitment on the fitness level and the incidence of SF during the 4-month ABT.
Methods:
We screened 226 female recruit volunteers (weight: 60.5±10 kg; height: 163±6 cm) from an integrated combat unit and 124 aged-matched female controls (weight: 57.0±8.3 kg, height 162±7 cm) from a non-combat unit. A self-report questionnaire on their habits pertaining to smoking, physical activity, and orthopedic injuries prior to recruitment were analyzed in relation to the incidences of SF during ABT.
Results:
Aerobic fitness was similar between the two groups. The overall incidence of SFs was 10.2%. Physical training prior to recruitment had no significant effect on the incidence of SF during ABT (11.7% vs. 9.6% in those who trained and did not train before recruitment, respectively) (Odds ratio, OR)=1.24, p=0.236). Nearly 42% of the female recruits smoked regularly, and the incidence of SFs among smokers was 10.5% compared with 9.9% among the non-smokers (OR=1.07, p=0.188). The overall incidence of SFs 12 months after recruitment was 1.78%. The use of contraceptive medication did not affect the incidence of SF: 10.0% among prior-trained vs. 6.4% in non-prior trained (p>0.05) recruits. SFs were not correlated to these variables at the end of the ABT program and 16 months after recruitment.
Conclusions:
In the present female cohort, physical activity prior to recruitment had no protective effect against SF during or after ABT. The incidence of SFs during the 12-month period after ABT was negligible.
This article investigates the negative experience of pregnant soldiers. Drawing on seven interviews with female officers pregnant during their service in the Danish army, the article shows how, ...obliged to prioritise between the welfare of their unborn child and themselves on one hand and, on the other, the physically demanding performance of the military role model leading by example in the successful execution of their duties, these officers find it difficult reconciling the role of mother-to-be and the role of soldier. The pregnant body offers a challenge to the pregnant officer's performance as a disciplined and physically able soldier, it is argued; this, in turn, challenges the pregnant officer's social identity as soldier and leader. The article offers evidence that prevailing gender biases present difficulties for pregnant soldiers seeking to successfully navigate the demands of their work life. As leaders in the army seem to overlook these challenges, the two principal purposed of the article are as follows: First, to spell out the need to better support serving mothers-to-be through the enforcement of a pregnancy policy intented to secure a healthy work environment. Second, that if we are to secure equal opportunities for men and women in the armed forces, equity must be achieved through strategies of gender mainstreaming. However, a change in the work culture of the army is needed to make equity socially acceptable. These purposes will be supported by reference to the case study of pregnant soldiers. Keywords: Pregnancy, Female Soldiers, Gender Equality, Gender Bias, Work Environment, Leadership
This article revisits the discussion about Polish women's contribution to the fight for national independence, and women's enfranchisement, considering the absence of First World War female activists ...in the mainstream narratives about the inception of the Polish state. The exploration of biographies of the female activists in the pro-independence female organizations, e.g. the Polish Women's League for War Alert (LKPW, Liga Kobiet Polskich Pogotowia Wojennego, est. 1913), shows the intersection of feminist and nationalist goals, thus challenging the prevailing view that nationalists and feminists belonged to separate camps. The approaching war, but also the increasingly negative press about feminism, forced the leaders of the pro-independence groups to disguise their emancipationist ambitions under patriotic slogans. Given the country's negative predisposition towards both socialism and feminism, the article proposes that it is precisely the feminist agenda, as well as the ties of the pro-independence activists to the Polish socialist movement, which have prevented their stories from becoming a legitimate part of historical discourse about Poland's road to independence.
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