Military-Industrial Complexes and Violence Towards Women

Abstract

Military-industrial complexes (MIC) are intricate social structures which consist not only of high ranking military officers and industrialists who manufacture weapons, but also of scientists who manage laboratories, of bureaucrats who are devoted to the cause of militarism. They are patriarchal systems which tend to perpetuate the oppression and exploitation of women through exerting violence. In feminist circles, it is customary to identify the patriarchal system as one of oppression and exploitation of women. The nation-state reinforces the development of militarization by the MICs by sacrificing the jobs and social services needed by women. The market economy system is a sexist economic system which, throughout all countries of the world, favors men and disadvantages women. The cultural subsystem is also widely affected by the militarization of society. The spreading of pornography on the front page of the written press and on the walls of buildings illustrates how the "pin-up" culture has invaded the whole of popular culture.