Last week my class finished up Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five. Although I enjoyed the novel very much it was hard for me to think about how it connected with masculinity. I thought about examining Billy Pilgrim and how he was not the typical masculine war hero; yet I felt this was too trivial. I decided to focus more on Vonnegut’s anti-war message. How could I connect this message to masculinity in war?

“So it goes” is interpreted to mean that human beings have no free will. What if we apply this idea to the problems associated with masculinity in war/the military?

“For fiscal year 2008, there were 2,923 reports of sexual assaults among active duty U.S. troops worldwide, up from 2,688 reported the previous fiscal year.”

So it goes…

“Up to 90% of [military] women will be sexually harassed.”

So it goes…

“According to the Department of Defense’s own statistics 74-85% of soldiers convicted of rape or sexual assault leave the military with honorable discharges (meaning the rape conviction does not appear on their record!)”

So it goes…

“Over 90% of all females that report a sexual assault is discharged from the military before her contract end. From the 90%, around 85% are discharged against their wishes. Almost all of the 85% lose their careers based on a misdiagnoses that makes one ineligible for military service. The most common misdiagnoses are: adjustment disorder, personality disorder and pre-service existing PTSD or other disorder.”

So it goes…

“four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.”

So it goes…

I am obviously focusing on sexual harassment, assault, and rape of women in the military. I do not want to exclude other problems like the homophobia of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” racism, and elitist behavior that plaques the military; but for the sake of space I will limit my discussion.

Sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape are all methods that men use to control women (and men). These are not acts by sex-starved men nor a crazy few. These are acts by men that directly tell women (and men) that this is not a place for you e.g. the street, workplace, military—the public sphere or masculine word.

Women, like LGBTIQ people, people of color, and other diversities threaten American masculinity. In order to combat this threat men resort to the single most masculine action, violence.

What if we really meant this “so it goes” when it’s applied to sexual violence in the military?  If it’s a “boys will be boys” mentality that we keep and justify then how will we change these facts?  If we accept “so it goes” do we accept the responsibility for masculinity’s consequences? I think this is getting to the root of Vonnegut’s argument, we cannot accept “so it goes” because we should/can change society.

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