Biography:

After a lifetime of buckling to the demands of her strict Indian parents, Anuradha Bhagwati abandons grad school in the Ivy League to join the Marines—the fiercest, most violent, most masculine branch of the military—determined to prove herself there in ways she couldn’t at home. Yet once training begins, Anuradha’s G.I. Jane fantasy is punctured. As a
bisexual woman of color in the military, she faces underestimation at
every stage, confronting misogyny, racism, and astonishing injustice
perpetrated by those in power. Pushing herself beyond her limits,
she also wrestles with what exactly drove her to pursue such punishment in the first place.

Anuradha Bhagwati is a writer, activist, yoga and meditation teacher, and Marine Corps veteran. She founded the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), which brought national attention to sexual violence in the military and helped repeal the ban on women in combat. She is a regular media commentator on issues related to national security, women’s rights, civil rights, and mental health. Anuradha is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Susan B. Anthony Award from NOW-NYC, the India Abroad Publisher’s Special Award for Excellence, the National Women’s Law Center Champions for Women in the Military Award, the Vietnam Veterans of America Keeping Faith Award, and the Working Mother Multicultural Women’s National Conference Legacy Award.

Co-Sponsors: 

Department of English, LGBT Resource Center, Women’s Resource Center, Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, Graduate School of Education, Media and Cultural Studies, Asian Pacific Student Programs, and Center for Ideas and Society