Contributors from political science, women's and gender studies, and other social sciences examine a wide range of activities and attitudes by and about women in contexts of war and the military. They cover gender, militarization, and security; the deployment of gender and sexuality in times of conflict; sexual violence in war and conflict; gender, war, and militarism in disarmament and post-conflict reconstruction; and texts and contexts for gender, war, and militarism. Among the topics are soldiers for hire and hegemonic masculinity, rape as a marker and eraser of difference in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, women's stories of healing and rebuilding after the war in El Salvador, and fireman fetishes and Drag King Dreams as queer responses to September 11. The 17 papers are from an October 2007 conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)