Abuses of the erotic: militarizing sexuality in the post-Cold War United States

228 Pages·2019·4.608 MB·English

by  Cerretti, Josh

ABUSES OF THE EROTIC
ABUSES OF
Expanding Frontiers Interdisciplinary Approaches
to Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
SerieS editorS / Karen J. Leong / Andrea Smith
THE EROTIC
Militarizing Sexuality in the Post– Cold War United States
Josh Cerretti
University of Nebraska Press / Lincoln
© 2019 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska
An earlier version of chapter 1 appeared as “Rape as a Weapon
of War(riors): The Militarisation of Sexual Violence in the
United States, 1990– 2000” in Gender and History 28, no. 3
(November 2016): 794– 812. © 2016 by John Wiley and Sons
Ltd. Used with permission.
An earlier version of chapter 2 appeared as “Confronting an
Enemy Abroad, Transforming a Nation at Home: Domestic
Militarism in the US, 1990– 1996” in Radical History Review
126 (October 2016): 50– 70. Used with permission of Duke
University Press.
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Cerretti, Josh, author.
Title: Abuses of the erotic: militarizing sexuality in the post–
Cold War United States / Josh Cerretti.
Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, [2019]
| Series: Expanding frontiers: interdisciplinary approaches
to studies of women, gender, and sexuality | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2018043071
iSbn 9781496205568 (cloth: alk. paper)
iSbn 9781496215857 (epub)
iSbn 9781496215864 (mobi)
iSbn 9781496215871 (pdf)
Subjects: lcSh: Women and war— United States. | Women
and the military— United States. | Gay military personnel—
United States. | Militarism— United States. | Sex— United
States. | United States— Military policy.
Classification: lcc jz6405.w66 c47 2019 |
ddc 306.70973— dc23
lc record available at
https:// lccn .loc .gov /2018043071
Set in Chaparral Pro by Mikala R. Kolander.
Contents
Introduction: Abuses of the Erotic 1
1 No Politician Can Afford to Let Women
Come Home in Body Bags: The Militarization
of Sexual Violence 25
2 Confronting an Enemy Abroad, Transforming
a Nation at Home: Heterosexuality and
Domestic Militarism 53
3 The Propensity or Intent to Engage in
Homosexual Acts: Militant Queerness and
Militarized Homosexuality 79
4 A Close and Mutually Beneficial Relationship:
The United States, Marshall Islands, and
Militarization of Reproduction 103
Conclusion: The Long War 125
Acknowledgments 143
Notes 147
Bibliography 185
Index 207

ABUSES OF THE EROTIC

Introduction
Abuses of the erotiC
In the wake of the September 11, 2001, hijackings, amid a storm of
anxieties about everything from new airport security procedures
to envelopes of anthrax powder, people in the United States from
across the political spectrum also appeared profoundly anxious about
sexuality.
Seeking to condemn those who lifted the “veil of protection” that
he believed “allowed no one to attack America on our soil since 1812,”
conservative Christian pastor Jerry Falwell used the September 13
episode of the television show The 700 Club to levy an accusation.
Falwell said “you helped this happen” to “the abortionists, and the
feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to
make that an alternative lifestyle.”1 Falwell’s specification of repro-
ductive technology, feminist ideology, and sexual orientation as the
forces imperiling his country made clear that he was worried about
the power of sexuality. His perspective on geopolitics suggested that
national security depended, in large measure, on the proper practice
of national sexuality.
Falwell’s words were quickly condemned as hyperbolic and divi-
sive, even by close allies like then president George W. Bush. At the
same time, Bush’s reactions connected the events of September 11
to sexuality too. He began his September 20 address to Congress and
1