One of the Boys?

Abstract This article argues that American media reports of the Jessica Lynch case illustrate some of the ways in which gender has been reordered, policed and disciplined within the United States (and North America more broadly) in the wake of 9/11 and in the context of war. The study of a key gendered representation of the war – and of the way gender interlocks with race, class, nationality and sexuality in these representations – tells us not only about how the war was sold to the American public, but also about the degree to which normative and disciplinary gender roles can be stretched, or not, within domestic society and the ways in which contemporary media portrayals of foreign adventures serve to reinforce these gender norms. Ultimately we argue that media portraits of Jessica Lynch demonstrate how little the simple inclusion of women in the military acts to disrupt sexist systems of power and meaning. Keywords: disorderfemale soldiersgenderrepresentationwar Notes The newspapers were chosen for their influence on the development of the story, as well as their national importance, representing six of the largest metropolitan regions in the United States, including the top three cities in terms of population (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). For an interesting discussion of how the transgressive power of female soldiers becomes recuperated by traditional gender norms see Howard and Prividera Citation(2004); Holland Citation(2006). The same US official noted that initial intelligence reports indicated that Lynch had been stabbed to death. Most notably, there was some speculation as to whether Lynch's ‘multiple gunshots’ might have come in the barrage of gunfire encountered in trying to remove her from the hospital (Jehl and Blair Citation2003: 1). Out of gratitude for what he had done to enable Lynch's rescue, Al Rehaief and his family were granted ‘humanitarian parole’ by the US Department of Homeland Security, allowing them to immigrate to the United States. They were subsequently granted asylum by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and settled in the Washington, DC area (O'Hare Citation2003: TV-3). Jessica Lynch continued to dispute the story of her injuries and rescue, testifying in April 2007 before the US House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Hearing on ‘Misleading Information on the Battlefield’. The full text of her testimony can be found at http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/documents/20070424110022.pdf (accessed 13 January 2010). For a discussion of the connection between America's Christian ‘values’ and representations of Jessica Lynch, see Brown Citation(2004). For a fascinating discussion of representations of the American ‘hillbilly’ in relation to American military and foreign policy, see Mason Citation(2005). Lynch did not win her local beauty pageant, rather she took ‘Miss Congeniality’. As one reporter commented, ‘Winning top prize would have implied the easy road; instead, Lynch received her award for politeness and grit’ (Lipsky Citation2003: 9).