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This chapter describes and analyzes the literature on gender in the military. Of special interest from a macrosociological perspective are historical and current trends in women's participation in the armed forces of the U.S. and other nations and the factors that affect them. The central role of gender in the military--and the role of the military in defining gender in the larger society--have implications for men's behaviors and for men's and women's views regarding policies on women's military roles and on homosexuality in the armed forces. The construction of gender in military family issues is also discussed.