ABSTRACT
Women who advocate feminism see militarism as exemplifying patriarchal concepts of masculinity and the right of males to dominate others. To these women, struggling against militarism is to struggle against patriarchy. Discussions of feminism and militarism that do not clarify for women the roles we play in all their variety and complexity, make it appear that all women are against war, that men are the enemy. Advocates of feminism who are concerned about militarism must insist that women are not inherently more life-affirming or non-violent. To fight militarism, we must resist socialization and brainwashing in the culture that teaches passive acceptance of violence in daily life, that teaches people one can eliminate violence with violence. Women who oppose militarism must be willing to withdraw all support for war, knowing full well that such withdrawal necessarily begins with a transformation in the psyches, one that changes the passive acceptance of violence as a means of social control into active resistance.
