In all echelons of the Dutch Armed Forces, military women are nowadays active. Unfortunately, there are still some factors which complicate the role and position of the military women, such as the stagnating integration of women and sexual harassment. The dominant masculine culture of the military is regularly mentioned as a possible explanation. However, the extent to which masculine orientation within the Dutch Armed Forces is valid and the possible consequences of this orientation for the integration of military women, has rarely been an object of research in the Netherlands. This observation forms the basis of present dissertation entitled ‘Masculinity taken for granted’. Using the social constructive perspective, a model has been developed that provides insight into how dominant and hegemonic masculinities are constructed and reproduced in the military organization. Central to this model is the ‘warrior’ as an image of the military professional who is legitimated to use (armed) violence. Based on extensive literature search is argued that three so-called ‘vehicles’ (re)produce dominant and hegemonic masculinity: ‘doing masculinity’, ‘discourses’ and ‘various manifestations of the military body’. The empirical part of this research involves in-depth interviews with eighteen military women, focusing on their experiences with masculinity during their initial training and operational missions. Thematic analysis has identified four themes: ‘military identity in balance’, ‘the military body as a straitjacket’, ‘military bonding independent from sex?’ and ‘sexuality under tension’. This dissertation concludes that in training as well as in operational practices, hierarchic gender relations between military men and military women and between masculinity and femininity have been maintained and are still being accepted. Given these circumstances, military women generally strive for a form of femininity in which femininity will be harnessed, indicated as ‘militarized femininity’. Recommendations focus on the dismantling and neutralizing of the dynamics which lead to gender inequality by counter-hegemonic practices.