Archetype Profiles of Military Spouses in Australia–Identifying Perfect Partners and Mean Girls

• Author: Amy Johnson,Kate Ames,Celeste Lawson
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211029318
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X211029318

Armed Forces & Society

2022, Vol. 48(4) 828 –848

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0095327X211029318

journals.sagepub.com/home/afs

Article

Archetype Prof‌iles of Military

Spouses in Australia

Identifying Perfect Partners

and Mean Girls

Amy Johnson

1

, Kate Ames

2

, and Celeste Lawson

1

Abstract

Military spouses are situated at the junction of the military and civilian worlds. They

provide necessary support to military strategic and operational objectives and are also

expected to perform a traditional spousal role of the ‘good’military wife. This article

demonstrates the existence of strong military partner archetypes which guide military

community norms and expectations of spousal behaviour. In 14 qualitative interviews

and f‌ive focus groups with Australian military partners, participants revealed many

different, yet f‌irm, sentiments related to identity, including f‌ierce independence; a sense

of belonging; self-reliance; a desire to help others; belief in fairness and pragmatism. The

archetypes outlined in this article shape how partners see their role, and how they

interact with other non-military partners and the military organization. This research

delivers insights into optimizing military partner services to better support spouses

through deployment, relocation and other military experiences.

Keywords

family issues, Australia/New Zealand, military culture, social media

1

School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia

2

Learning Design and Innovation, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Amy Johnson, School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University, 554-700 Yaamba Rd,

Norman Gardens, Rockhampton, QLD 4701, Australia.

Email: a.johnson2@cqu.edu.au

—

Johnson et al. 829

Archetype Prof‌iles of Military

Spouses in Australia

Identifying Perfect Partners

and Mean Girls

Amy Johnson

1

, Kate Ames

2

, and Celeste Lawson

1

Abstract

Military spouses are situated at the junction of the military and civilian worlds. They

provide necessary support to military strategic and operational objectives and are also

expected to perform a traditional spousal role of the ‘good’military wife. This article

demonstrates the existence of strong military partner archetypes which guide military

community norms and expectations of spousal behaviour. In 14 qualitative interviews

and f‌ive focus groups with Australian military partners, participants revealed many

different, yet f‌irm, sentiments related to identity, including f‌ierce independence; a sense

of belonging; self-reliance; a desire to help others; belief in fairness and pragmatism. The

archetypes outlined in this article shape how partners see their role, and how they

interact with other non-military partners and the military organization. This research

delivers insights into optimizing military partner services to better support spouses

through deployment, relocation and other military experiences.

Keywords

family issues, Australia/New Zealand, military culture, social media

1

School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia

2

Learning Design and Innovation, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Amy Johnson, School of Education and the Arts, Central Queensland University, 554-700 Yaamba Rd,

Norman Gardens, Rockhampton, QLD 4701, Australia.

Email: a.johnson2@cqu.edu.au

—

Introduction

The spouses of military members face signif‌icant pressures because of their association

with military organizations. These affect not only their physical, social and mental well-

being but also their sense of identity. Research highlights the tension partners feel

between their civilian and military identities, and more recent research has highlighted a

strong association between traditional gender stereotypes and the military spouse (Cree,

2019;Ziff & Garland-Jackson, 2019). In spite of acknowledgements that military

spouses provide important capabilities to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), aca-

demic research relating to the needs and experiences of Australian military partners is

limited. This study qualitatively investigated experiences of the spouses of ADF

members (hereafter called partners) through f‌ive focus groups and 14 semi-structured

interviews. This study outlines the adoption or rejection of a military partner identity by

participants as well as the identif‌ication of seven distinct partner archetypes –Helper,

Milspouse, Suck It Up Sunshine, Whinger, Mean Girls, the Perfect Partner and the

Disengaged Partner. These archetypes set norms and expectations for partners and can

be problematic for military partners, communities and organizations.

Method

This research project investigated Facebook use by ADF partners in order to understand

the needs and behaviours of this community. The research was underpinned by a social

media ethnography methodology. Social media ethnography (Postill & Pink, 2012)

draws on the work of Hine (2000) and Kozinets (2015) to propose a methodology

which shifts focus away from traditional perceptions of virtual community towards

broader concepts of sociality and movement. The research sought to answer four

questions –how do ADF partners interact online in Facebook groups?; what, if any,

services and support do online interactions provide partners, and how does interacting

on Facebook impact relationships with ADF-sponsored support providers?; what can

be learnt about the ADF community from the interactions of ADF partners online?;

what recommendations can be made to ADF-sponsored support networks, like the

Defence Community Organisation, regarding the interactions of ADF partners on social

media?

Qualitative data were collected through focus groups and semi-structured inter-

views. Five focus groups were held with 19 participants. Eighteen of these participants

were civilians in relationships with military members, and one participant was a

military member in a dual-serving relationship. All focus group participants were

women. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were held. Twelve participants were

civilians in relationships with military members, one participant was a civilian who had

separated from the military member and one participant was a military member in a

dual-serving relationship. Thirteen participants were women and one participant was a

man. While this study had low levels of representation of men and women in same-

2Armed Forces & Society 0(0)