Gender Differences in Public Attitudes toward the Use of Force by the United States, 1990-2003

In this article, the author examines the role of gender in shaping attitudes toward the U.S. use of military force. The author suggests that two factors explain why men and women have different opinions about military action: the reasons given for the use of force and the likely consequences of such action. He finds that although women are generally less likely to support overt military operations— and tend to be more sensitive to the prospect of civilian and military casualties—"[they] are not uniformly pacifist, nor are men uniformly bellicose." The author considers some of the implications of his research for two issues currently on the national political agenda: the war in Iraq and the war on terror.