Description
Women have served in the armed forces in many countries for decades. Yet, scholars have insufficiently addressed why and how some countries might actively recruit women in the national defence and how such promotion strategy shapes the gender hierarchies in the military. Understudied are contexts beyond this region or entity, particularly states that face immediate and immense threats from others in keeping their peace. Using Taiwan as a case study because of its de facto status, this paper explores how the military executives and political elites promote gender-mainstreaming and integration as a national defence strategy and how gender integration shapes the gendered culture within the military and beyond. In-depth interviews with policymakers and soldiers in Taiwan reveal that the military strategically mainstreams and strategizes women’s presence to enhance its military power. However, the paper also shows that the increase in women’s military does not increase women’s military status – gender inequality consistently remains and sometimes there is a backlash effect. The paper offers nuanced insights into how women’s military presence is viewed, which is vital to tackling systematic barriers and building comprehensive protection to the nation.
