Genital Injury in Modern Warfare: The Struggle for Intimacy Inside the Bio-power of the Military Institution

Abstract

The prevalence of combat-induced male genital injury suffered in modern warfare is at historic levels, and yet it remains as an underdeveloped area of military discourse, rendering it into an invisible phenomenon. Although the Veterans Administration (VA) releases injury data to the public, it offers little insight into the lived experience of veterans suffering from genital trauma and how these specific veterans are cared for within the military rehabilitation system. Because existing literature is still scarce, this paper draws on a diverse set of resources in an attempt to illuminate a body of knowledge that accurately defines genital injury within the context of the military. The purpose of this is to reveal the clashing intersection between the intimate embodiments of genital injury and the bio-power manifested within the military as a means to argue why this phenomenon remains an invisible crisis. Due to the lack of medical care knowledge surrounding genital injury, I argue for a novel method rooted in feminist science that can sufficiently care for male veterans suffering from genital injury.