Description
Drawing inspiration from Enloe’s feminist curiosity and my service time in the Royal Thai Air Force, this paper discusses military women’s self-representation on social media. More broadly, it is argued that Thai military women continue to face marginalisation and misogyny in the workplace, while media representation of military women remains evidently underrepresented and gendered. With the proliferation of social media platforms, military women have opportunities to self-represent their military selves and identities. The paper suggests that military women compromise their individuality in order to “integrate” in the military (online) community, which mirrors traditional military transition. This compromise also includes women managing their femininity, for example, sharing photos with less makeup, yet looking "beautiful enough”, or accepting online misogynistic comments from male colleagues. It further sheds light on women’s attempts to negotiate with the military for recognition, relevance, and visibility. Nevertheless, both compromise and negotiation validate the militarization of women's lives and the impact of military masculinity on (military) women; both of which transcend into the military digital culture.
