Broadening Understandings of “Identity” Among Military Partners: A Multidisciplinary Reflection from the United Kingdom; A Research Note

As gendered organizations, militaries generate and perpetuate specific institutional and cultural expectations that construct and inform gendered identities. Neither fully military nor fully civilian, the (largely female) spouses and partners of military personnel occupy a liminal position that requires development of multifaceted, complex, and at times, contradictory identities. Despite well-established identity theory literature supporting myriad positionalities, research exploring military partner identities frequently remains confined to specific contexts, situations, and approaches. Based on reflections from our work with U.K. military partners, this conceptual article presents a summary of multidisciplinary discussions of our collective research relating to partner identity. Through this discussion, we highlight ways in which research, including our own, could (1) move beyond understanding partner identity within situational and contextual “silos,” (2) challenge the conceptualization of partner identities as static and fixed, and (3) acknowledge the visibility (and invisibility) of certain military partners across different military and social contexts. Specifically, to better acknowledge and recognize fluid, flexible, and intersecting identities, we call for research to embrace more interdisciplinary approaches and innovative methods and pursue greater commitment to reflecting the voices of a wider demographic of military partners who continue to be overlooked in present research.