PTSD, Women Soldiers, and Photography

The New York Times Magazine's cover story last Sunday was "The Women's War," by Sarah Corbett, about women who had been deployed to Iraq, combat, sexual harassment and rape, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Accompanying the story are pictures of the veterans Corbett interviewed, photographed by Katy Grannan.

Lindsay Beyerstein noticed something interesting about Grannan's photographs: they appeared to Lindsay's eye to use the conventions of pinup photography, incongruously sexualizing the presentation of these disturbed war veterans.

I thought Lindsay was on to something, and I was really interested in what my friend Laurie Edison would have to say. So I got out of my chair with my laptop and showed it to Laurie's blogging partner, our own true Debbie Notkin. They were interested indeed, and the next day they wrote about it together on Body Impolitic. Laurie and Debbie noted the sexualization in some of the pictures, and noted that in others women were represented as taking care of children or working in a kitchen. They add that, quickly googling for images of men accompanying accounts of PTSD, one finds headshots or battlefield scenes.

Lindsay responded with another post. So did Lynn Kendall, who explains the meaning of finding sexiness in PTSD-suffering women.

I don't have much to add here, except that the conversation is as thought-provoking as its subject is disturbing.