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A military brat (
colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique
subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
David C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revised Edition. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2009. and
cultural identity Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct cultur ...
.Chatterjee, Smita
"Defense Kids In India: Growing Up Differently"
''Loving Your Child'' online magazine, December 2010.
Ender, Morton. ''Military Brats and Other Global Nomads''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Suarez, Theresa Cenidoza

ch. 4. University of California, San Diego, 2008. 130 pages, 3320357
A military brat's childhood or adolescent life may be immersed in military culture to the point where the mainstream culture of their home country may seem foreign or peripheral. In many countries where there are military brat subcultures, the child's family moves great distances from one non-combat assignment to another for much of their youth. For highly mobile military brats, a mixed cultural identity often results, due to exposure to numerous national or regional cultures. Within military culture, the term ''military brat'' is not considered to be a
pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
(as in describing a spoiled child), but rather connotes affection and respect.Cranston, CA
"Challenging Contemporary Ecocritical Place Discourses: Military Brats, Shadow Places, and Homeplace Consumerism"
''Indian Journal of Ecocriticism'', V. 2, 2009. pp. 73–89. ISSN 0974-2840
War-related family stresses, including long-term war-related absence of a parent, as well as war aftermath issues, are common features of military brat life in some countries, although the degree of war-involvement of individual countries with military brat subcultures may vary.


Life and culture

A common pattern in these subcultures is a heavy childhood and adolescent immersion in military culture to the point of marginalizing (or having significant feelings of difference in relation to) one's national civilian culture.Enloe, Cynthia H. ''Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives'', p. 186. University of California Press; 1st edition, 2000. This is characterized by a strong identification with military culture rather than civilian culture. Another term for this is the "militarization of childhood". In some countries where military brat subcultures occur, there may also be an
itinerant An itinerant is a person who travels habitually. Itinerant may refer to: *"Travellers" or itinerant groups in Europe * Itinerant preacher, also known as itinerant minister *Travelling salespeople, see door-to-door, hawker, and peddler *Travelling ...
or modern nomadic lifestyle involved as the child follows their military parent(s) from base to base, in many cases never having a hometown (or at least going through very long periods of being away from one's home town). It also can involve living outside of one's home country at or near overseas military bases in foreign cultures, or in regions within one's home country far from one's home region, along with experiences of significant cultural difference in either case. Highly mobile military brat subcultures have also been described as modern nomadic or
peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers. ...
subcultures.


Use of term

The term "military brat" occurs within military cultures in Australia, India (also called "Cantonment Kids"), Canada (also called "Base Brats"), Pakistan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Military-dependent subcultures, also known as
camp followers Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have histori ...
, have existed (under various other names) in many parts of the world for thousands of years.Holmes, Richard; ed (2001). ''The Oxford Companion to Military History''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .


Feelings of difference, military brat identity versus civilian identity

Many military brats report difficulty in identifying where they belongEidse, Faith; Sichel, Nina. '' Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing up Global'', 1st edition. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2003. (due to a lifestyle of constantly moving, and also immersion in military culture, and in many cases, also foreign cultures, as opposed to the civilian culture of their native countries, while growing up) and frequently feel like outsiders in relation to the civilian culture of their native countries.Caforio, Giuseppe. Kümmel, Gerhard; Purkayastha, Bandana (eds.) ''Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution: Sociological Perspectives''. Emerald Group Publishing, 2008. The home countries of a number of Military Brat
subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
s have highly mobile (modern Nomadic) lifestyles, or at least significant overseas (or distant-internal) assignments for career military families and their children and adolescents while growing up, including Canada,
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, France, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.Williams, Rudi
"Military Brats Are a Special Breed"
. Washington, D.C.: American Forces Press Service (US Department of Defense Publication), 2001.
These military-dependent
subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
s are generations old. Some ex-military dependents have found that their mobile upbringing has been massively influential in determining their eventual career in adulthood. One example of this is British actress/comedian Dawn French who discussed her childhood as an RAF dependent in an interview with Radio 4. She stated that she felt that the need to make new friends every few years was one of the reasons she discovered her talent for comedy. She also discusses this aspect of her life in her autobiography. American military brats have also been identified as a distinct American subculture. Musil, Donna. ''Brats: Our Journey Home'' (documentary film). Atlanta Georgia: Brats Without Borders Inc., 2005.


See also

*
Camp follower Camp followers are civilians who follow armies. There are two common types of camp followers; first, the wives and children of soldiers, who follow their spouse or parent's army from place to place; the second type of camp followers have histori ...
historical term that described military dependent children and wives, still has some contemporary use *
Military brat (disambiguation) A military brat is a term used in several English-speaking countries to describe a person who spends their childhood or adolescence living with parents who are active members of the Armed Forces. It may also refer to: * Military brat (US subcultur ...
page for several other uses of the term / related articles * Military dependent official government term in several countries for military brats * Service Children's Education British Government Agency that administers overseas schools for UK military children *'' The Great Santini'', film about American Marine brats. *
Third culture kid Third culture kids (TCK) or third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of their country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of thei ...


References


Further reading

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External links

{{commons category, Military brats
Military Brats Registry
(Social media site for military brats)
BRATS: Our Journey Home (The First Documentary About Growing Up Military)Brats Without Borders, Inc.
a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
Military Brat Life
remembering a different life living on bases and posts in the U.S. and overseas.
‘Military Brat:’ Do you know where the term comes from?
Childhood Childhood-related stereotypes Adolescence Children in war Family Itinerant living Military life Military slang and jargon Military sociology Military terminology