To summarize my critique: Bowman's argument is a theory, not based on any evidence, that relies on several assumptions: that what motivates 18-year-olds in 21st-century America to fight wars is a particular conception of honor; that that honor is defined by having an exclusively male, heterosexual identity; and by the further belief that a straight man's honor relies on not having gay peers. This is a conception of honor which harks back to the pre-WWI era and which even Bowman acknowledges was rejected by American culture following that era and has not been revived since, despite the best efforts of social and military conservatives. Yet when you turn to actual research on combat motivation, you find that the most important factor motivating combat in the modern age is not honor, but peers: you do it for your buddy. And saying to a peer, "I'm going to be sharing a foxhole with you, I need to trust you, so lie to me about who you really are," is not a recipe for honor or cohesion. Honor and masculinity may play a role in military bonding, but neither one, in the year 2009, is tethered to heterosexuality or homophobia as they may have been in days gone by. Above all, Bowman's theory is belied by reality on the ground: the existence of straights and known gays fighting effectively together throughout not only twenty-five foreign militaries but our own U.S. armed forces, where two thirds of troops know or suspect gays in their units. And by the way: there is plenty of honor among women in the military, who have been motivated enough to go into harm's way since 2001 like no time in our history, and have racked up hundreds of casualties as badges of their honor.
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