Military Trade

This is part of a series by Zeeland of books on related topics, basically having sex with military men. Zeeland has a book on each of the Navy, the Army, and the Marines, and this one draws things together as a more general treatment of the same topic. Like his other books, Zeeland does his reporting in this book both through stories he has gotten from others as well as from his own experiences. Many gay men fantasize about marines, maybe more than members of any other military branch, and probably because they are presented as the most "butch" and masculine of the military branches; this comes through here. However, there are those for whom the army and the navy are more appropos, or perhaps because this is where their own military experience lay. Zeeland explores the theme in this book in various ways, not only through the stories of his own interactions - he has a hands-on approach to things, so to speak - but also through psychology, sociology, and politics that are part of the subculture in the military. Underneath the don't ask - don't tell facade, there is a very busy time going on. This is a fascinating book, like the others.

I'm one of the chapters in Zeeland's book. He told the truth, and did so in a clear informative manner. In telling my story, and those of men with similar tastes, Steven earned my respect.

OK, I admit it, I bought it for the cover. And the pictures. But this book is a real page turner. Like it says on the back cover, it keeps you up all night "trying to put it down".

After producing three very insightful books on their quarry, Zeeland provides his readers with an equally intriguing, ocassionally disturbing, and often very funny look at the hunters - the "chasers' of military men. Zeeland examines what motivates these men (and, at last, one woman), but unlike his previous books, in which many of his interviews were fascinatingly intimate portraits of friends, lovers, and acquaintances, Zeeland for the most part steps back and lets these chasers tell their own tales without deeply challenging their motivations and assumptions about the military and military men. For example, most of the chasers profess to being drawn to the military ideal of loyalty, fidelity, and patriotism, despite the fact that their actual experiences with military men as they tell them often prove otherwise, and few show any insight into the very real working class limitations that lead much of their quarry to join in the first place. This is particularly interesting when one considers the fact that for the most part these chasers are drawn to enlisted men, yet they frequently differ from them significantly in politics, education, and class background, and often show little genuine understanding of them. Then there are those chasers beset by a sort of sexual "Stockholm Syndrome," who find their own lifestyles and political beliefs changed by their exposures to the subjects of their desire. All of these are issues worthy of exploration, but for the most part Zeeland lets these accounts raise more questions than they answer. This reader would love to see more in-depth study by Zeeland of all these issues. Perhaps in a second study of such chasers?As a woman who was herself a mild military chaser who ended up married to one of her USMC quarry, if there is a second study I would enjoy reading about more women like myself. Indeed, "Military Trade" would have benefited not only from interviews with more women military chasers but also with perhaps an examination of the very gender-bending in which we women indulge in much of our chasing.At the heart of all of Steven Zeeland's books is a challenge to our assumptions about sexual identity, and this reader, who has done much of just that, would love to see an even more extensive exploration of how both men and women cross the boundaries, as it were, whether chasing military or not. However, for all the book does offer us, and all the questions it raises, "Military Trade" is a valuable addition to Zeeland's growing canon of studies of the fluidity of sexuality and the cult of the military. Well done!

If you've picked up the latest (6/22/99) issue of the _The Advocate_, you probably saw that the #1 men's title is "Military Trade" be Steven Zeeland.It's #1 for a very good reason: it's an outstanding book. Zeeland tells the story of 18 "military chasers" - - men (and one woman!) who are attracted to military guys. But this book isn't some kind of disposable military erotica collection. It has some significant serious insights into both the chaser and the chased. Zeeland weaves together the chasers' own stories with his own insightful analysis of military masculinity - - including some thought-provoking conclusions that challenge our assumptions about dividing the world into "straight" and "gay".The book has something for a lot of different readers. I found it funny, arousing, and occasionally very disturbing. I suppose it really is "scholarly" [after all, it does have good footnotes], but don't get scared away by that term. There are some great pictures too!Zeeland has written books on soldiers, sailors, and Marines - - the chased. Now he's given us an outstanding exploration of the world of the chasers.Dave Clemens / U.S. Navy officer, 1984-92