The propaganda of war promotes national unity making it as priority which can silence women critical of patriarchal practices and attitudes. This silencing of women needs to be stronlgy counteracted by the peace movement. We need to intergrate a feminist perspective into all our anti-war critiques and actions if we are not merely to duplicate the existing social relation which lead to militarism in the first place. Patriarchy is a set of social relations between men, which have a material base, and through a hierarchy creates solidarity among men that enables them to dominate women. More commonly, women are a useful labour and sex resource for all men, particularly in the military.
War is seen by many men as even more of an exuse to rape and kill women and children.
Women are also used as a symbol of justification foe war. Women need protection as they are the nations most valuable possession, the principle vehicle for transmitting the nations values, bearers of future generation are most vulnerable to defilement and are most suceptible to assimilation. Women are most hurt when social programs are cut because they are most reliable upon state welfare. The economic implications of miltarisation are enormous but an economic analysis alone leaves untouched some of the most powerful ideological and private processes that perpetuate militarism. The military play a large role in defining women as the concept of masculinity promoted by the military only makes sense if supported by the complementary concept of femininity.