Soldiers’ sexual exploitation of local women is socially constructed, not natural male behavior.

Evidence

The dearth of other recreational opportunities on Korean bases may be a factor. But at issue is also the broader American military culture, and the sexism and patriarchy found society-wide in the United States, Korea, and much of the world. The behavior of men who take advantage of exploitative sex industries is often excused as a matter of “boys will be boys”—as merely natural behavior for male soldiers. In fact there’s little that’s natural about the behavior. Men on military bases and women in camptowns find themselves in what is a highly unnatural situation, one that’s been created by a series of human decisions made over time (mostly by male military and government officials). — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 554

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Takes the ‘boys will be boys’ excuse and dismantles it as socially constructed, locating the cause in deliberate policy decisions rather than nature.
• XREF: Builds on Enloe’s militarized masculinity concept; parallels the ‘complaints about immodesty go way back’ article’s theme of what gets naturalized versus constructed.