The Australian Defence Force maintains a narrative of gender equity progress, framing persistent gendered harm as cultural rather than institutional, and thereby obscuring its structural production. This depoliticising discourse diverts attention from the organisational conditions through which harm is reproduced. Drawing on a feminist PhD study of women veterans, this presentation posits that women’s bodies are constituted as unsuitable for military service by institutional design rather than deficit. It offers a critical analysis of the military as a gendered institution,reframing existing discourse through a feminist sociological framework at the intersection of corporeal feminism, identity, institutional power, and the politics of knowledge production.
Event Details:
Date: Thursday 18th June 2026
Time: 12:30pm - 13:30pm (AEDT)
Format: Zoom Webinar
Webinar
Cost: complimentary
Your Speakers
Natalie Merryman
Natalie Merryman is a final-year PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Newcastle. Her research extends feminist sociological frameworks for understanding the military as a gendered institution, drawing on qualitative interviews with women veterans to examine embodiment, institutional harm, and the politics of knowledge production. She has delivered multiple presentations nationally and internationally and is the recipient of several academic prizes including the TASA Postgraduate Research Impact & Engagement Award.