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7 - Respectable Women

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2025

Pauline Peretz
Affiliation:
Université Paris 8
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Summary

Despite strong opposition within the army and society, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps was created in 1942. Although segregated, it attracted many African-American women in search of income, emancipation or recognition of their contribution to the nation. The first two black companies were assigned to Huachuca to take over bureaucratic duties and traditionally female tasks. They were welcomed both as rivals and as possible sexual partners. Most of them turned this experience into an opportunity to assert their political, professional, and sexual agency. Their photographic and written documentation of their military experience at the fort offers a unique female gaze on the infantrymen’s training experience.

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  • Respectable Women
  • Pauline Peretz, Université Paris 8
  • Book: A Black Army
  • Online publication: 16 June 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009521512.008
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  • Respectable Women
  • Pauline Peretz, Université Paris 8
  • Book: A Black Army
  • Online publication: 16 June 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009521512.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Respectable Women
  • Pauline Peretz, Université Paris 8
  • Book: A Black Army
  • Online publication: 16 June 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009521512.008
Available formats
×