Roses among the thorns : females regulars in the military.

• Main Author: Wong, Chun Yan.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Military and naval science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/44077
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Despite the increasing number of female intakes into military service over the years, the entry into this male-dominated occupation still hold certain social stigma against females and this is reflected in their work experiences. Recent literature discussed gender and racial issues in tokenism which was previously found lacking in Kanter’s theory of tokenism. In addition, most of the articles on female tokens in the military are based on the U.S context. This paper engages with Kanter’s theory of tokenism in examining the experiences of female tokens in the military. Qualitative interviews were conducted with ten female regulars who are working in the Singapore Armed Forces. The analysis of these interviews challenged three perceptual assumptions – visibility, polarization and assimilation– of the experiences of female tokens that Kanter has previously discussed.