Women Now At Top of Military-Industrial Complex. A Feminist Reaction.

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR PRATT & WHITNEY - Government and industry leaders hold a press conference on Monday 11th July 2016 to discuss the capabilities of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and efforts to cut costs for the airframe and engine. Bob Leduc, President, Pratt & Whitney (left), is joined by President and CEO of Lockheed Martin, Marilyn Hewson, and Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. According to Pratt & Whitney, the company has cut the cost of the F135 engine by half since 2009. The company signed a $1.5 billion contract for 99 engines ahead of the Farnborough Air Show.
IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR PRATT & WHITNEY - Government and industry leaders hold a press conference on Monday 11th July 2016 to discuss the capabilities of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and efforts to cut costs for the airframe and engine. Bob Leduc, President, Pratt & Whitney (left), is joined by President and CEO of Lockheed Martin, Marilyn Hewson, and Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. According to Pratt & Whitney, the company has cut the cost of the F135 engine by half since 2009. The company signed a $1.5 billion contract for 99 engines ahead of the Farnborough Air Show. Fiona Hanson / AP Images for Pratt & Whitney
IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR PRATT & WHITNEY - Government and industry leaders hold a press conference on Monday 11th July 2016 to discuss the capabilities of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and efforts to cut costs for the airframe and engine. Bob Leduc, President, Pratt & Whitney (left), is joined by President and CEO of Lockheed Martin, Marilyn Hewson, and Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. According to Pratt & Whitney, the company has cut the cost of the F135 engine by half since 2009. The company signed a $1.5 billion contract for 99 engines ahead of the Farnborough Air Show.
IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR PRATT & WHITNEY - Government and industry leaders hold a press conference on Monday 11th July 2016 to discuss the capabilities of the F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and efforts to cut costs for the airframe and engine. Bob Leduc, President, Pratt & Whitney (left), is joined by President and CEO of Lockheed Martin, Marilyn Hewson, and Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. According to Pratt & Whitney, the company has cut the cost of the F135 engine by half since 2009. The company signed a $1.5 billion contract for 99 engines ahead of the Farnborough Air Show. Fiona Hanson / AP Images for Pratt & Whitney

Women Now At Top of Military-Industrial Complex. A Feminist Reaction.

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As of the beginning of 2019, four of the five highest-earning military contractors in the U.S. are led by women CEOs. Since last year, the Undersecretary of Defense who awards contracts to arms manufacturers has also been a woman. This falls within a trend of popular feminism championed by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Invoking women “lean in” to leadership positions, Sandberg argues that equality can only come as women assume more leadership positions traditionally held by men. When Politico reported the news last week, a flurry of critics questioned whether having women decide how to best profit from war is, indeed, a feminist victory. Cynthia Enloe is part of an influential generation of feminist scholars who, during the Vietnam War, began to trace the contradictions between militarist ideology and feminist logic. Enloe joins Worldview to discuss women in the military-industrial complex and “lean in” feminism. She is the retired chair of Political Science and Director of Women’s Studies at Clark University.