Pictures tell a story: Diversity and inclusion on the National CFMWS website

Abstract

LAY SUMMARY Women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA2S+ people have faced, and continue to face, discrimination in the Canadian Armed Forces. This study examined the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services national website ( https://www.cafconnection.ca/ ) to see how diversity was represented. The authors captured screenshots from the site between November 2020 and April 2021. While images of women, Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, and LGBTQIA2S+ people were present, the images that showed diversity were usually purchased, generic photos of people, and not representative of military life. In general, the photos maintained a patriarchal status quo largely depicting cisgender male soldiers and heteronormativity.