GUARDING AGAINST WOMEN - RESPONSES OF MILITARY MEN AND THEIR WIVES TOGENDER INTEGRATION

Based on in-depth interview questions with security guards and their w ives in the U.S. Air Force, this article looks at attitudes toward wom en's integration into a male career field prior to the occurrence. For men, the impending integration of women into this work setting poses two challenges: one threatens the solidarity of the work culture where the influx of outsiders would dilute, if not eradicate, the trust and camaraderie that helps the men get through the shift; the other threa tens the content of the culture, especially a distinct orientation to an alliance of equality (among men) and dominance (of men over women). Although wives shared with their husbands a concern about the effects of women's integration on job equity-especially fairness of assignmen t and safety, wives' concerns went beyond the workplace. They feared t hat women's integration crossed not only an occupational boundary but a temporal one in that their husbands would be working night shifts wi th other women. The possibility of challenges to sexual fidelity in ma rriage was a major concern for wives. The perception of a threat to a traditional gender division of labor not only devalued men's work; wiv es also became advocates for defending the gendering of the job.