Considering ongoing domestic and international sociopolitical tensions; what is the experience of war like for women?

submitted by JoeDzhugashvili from self.GenderCritical

Not a woman myself, interested in women’s perspectives. It seems to me, if you’re an American especially, you can expect a major war to seriously affect your life within the next decade or two. Whether it’s a Second Civil War or a Third World War, if you read enough news and history of any political persuasion it’s pretty clear where this society is headed. I already know the affects of war on men since I am a man after all and I know the affects of war on civilians in general, but I was curious about how an event like a major armed conflict in the modern era affects women specifically. As well I was wondering if people here have any plans for when Shit Really Hits the Fan?

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[–]BEB 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I doubt any other country would be so foolhardy as to mount a ground offensive of the US mainland, and the US has enough nuclear weapons and delivery systems to annihilate the world, so war will probably be what is it already:

Cyber attacks, propaganda to cause chaos, trade wars. Some of which could make life very miserable for Americans, but again, if another country does something nakedly aggressive I don't discount any US president using nuclear weapons. Truman, who dropped the atomic weapons on Japan, was a Democrat.

[–]slushpilot 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

My grandmother who grew up in a small village told us "at least the germans were polite and enforced order"—implying that the Soviets were none of that. I don't know all of what she experienced as a young girl, but she said those Russian barbarians took everything from them. So, for someone to be sympathetic and wistful toward the Nazis, that should tell you something.

[–]JoeDzhugashvili[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It tells me that they were probably well off or a nazi that didn’t give a shit about the truckloads of people shipped to death camps or the rampant genocide the “noble germans” committed on every other slavic village, town, or city they came across.

Guess she was lucky enough not to be in Leningrad

[–]slushpilot 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My comment was about the experience of my grandmother and what she saw from her perspective. That's what you asked about—and reducing someone's experience to a simplistic and dismissive label like "nazi" or "probably well-off" only tells me that your question was not really sincere.

But let me try again, because your reply just pissed me off. You came here to ask about the experience of women, remember? Then you dismiss what you read as "probably a nazi"!? Do you even hear yourself?

I assumed that "small village" would say enough about her circumstances: I vaguely remember the old cottage with the brick stove that my grandmother grew up in. More vividly, I also remember the outhouse.

As a young teenager during the war, all that my grandmother saw with her own eyes were two armies in succession. She was not old enough to care about who they were—but the difference in discipline & how they behaved was what stuck with her forever.

I'm not saying this to imply that Soviets or Nazis were better or worse than the other. Only that on a personal level, historical war statistics don't really matter: we know both did atrocious things on a grand scale. A village girl barely knows anything about their politics, and to call that child a "nazi" is beyond insulting.

She only knew that among other things, the soldiers stole her dresses—one of the few nice things she had. Now tell me, what kind of soldier does that, and then what else is he capable of doing. If that was all they took from her then I agree with you that she was lucky. But personally from the way she recounted that story about hiding in the cellar with her sisters, there could be more that she wouldn't say. Either way, she's not unique in that experience. I'm sure you can extrapolate.

[–]MarkTwainiac 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I suggest you do an online search for "women's experience of war." Lots of material will come up - 329 million results when I did it.

Also do read Svetlana Alexievich's remarkable work, "The Unwomanly Face of War." It earned her the Nobel Prize in Literature.