When the Other Comes Together: Black Women in the United States Air Force
Open AccessThe United States military is considered by many to be an organization free from discrimination, prejudice, and inequality that may be present in the civilian population. Although it is an institution charged with protecting and serving a nation, there are certain areas in which it fails to protect and serve its own members. Specifically, Black women in the military are subject to many disadvantages such as higher rates of discrimination, sexual harassment, and lower promotion rates. Previous studies have shown that each of these factors shape Black women’s attitude towards service and their decision to remain in the military, yet how these women use their position as an Other to form meaningful collectives remains understudied. By following Patricia Hill Collins’ assertion that Black women are subjected to the matrix of domination in terms of race and gender, based on their unique social locations, while valuing their standpoint, I complicate the notion of double jeopardy. This study aims to illustrate how their distinctive racialized and gendered encounters as Black women in the Air Force set them apart from their counterparts while fostering a sense of shared identity within the military context. Specifically, my research builds on the understanding of Black Feminist Thought that values standpoint as well as collective experiences. Given the literature, it is important to understand how Black women in the Air Force can be positively represented, understood, and celebrated as a united force.This research employs a grounded theory approach to thematically analyze Tik Tok posts, short-form videos uploaded and shared on social media, that are relevant to Black women in the Air Force and their sense of self. The videos collected for this study cover the period between 2021 and 2023, and although not exhaustive, the contents examined, capture the experiences of Black women within the context of the US and their relationship with the military. My findings indicate that these women have very different life stories, but there are some common threads tying their stories together, reiterating the importance of Black Feminist Thought as a sociological framework for understanding complex social issues. These women share common experiences during their time in the service and call upon other Black women for support, encouragement, and information sharing, to better understand themselves and how they relate to the institution that they are a part of. The major themes identified in the data showed various ways in which Black women experience double jeopardy, such as dress and appearance standards affecting them in targeted ways or using comedy to cope with the difficult experiences they are subjected to, illustrating how Othering is manifested in their military service. Simultaneously, these Black women use Tik Tok to share positive experiences and promote unity amongst themselves, challenging and resisting the controlling images perpetuated by the military institution. These findings are not only crucial for illustrating what double jeopardy entails in the US military, but also for highlighting potential areas of improvement for the Air Force to develop more culturally sensitive and inclusive policies to retain Black women who are a decisive component of the Armed Forces.
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