Monstrous Regiment
Monstrous Regiment is a frequently-used brief title of a misogynist 16th Century tract by John Knox, whose full title is The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (the women in question were Mary, Queen of Scots and Mary Tudor).
Monstrous Regiment is a book by Terry Pratchett released in late 2003.
Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers
Young Polly Perks(cutting off her hair and donning the identity of l8-year-old "Oliver") joins the ranks of the Borogravian army in its disastrous war against neighboring Zlobenia and Ankh-Morpork. Fearing that her brother has been captured, Polly hopes to rescue him, and thanks to her barmaid experience, she has her masculine cover all figured out-the walk, the talk, the aversion to hugs, the punches-as-greetings, not to mention the open delight in bodily functions. However, none of her careful preparation can equip her for what she finds at the registry depot-the most motley collection of military recruits Discworld has ever known, from a slouching Igor to a dourly aristocratic vampire to a variety of inept humans. After a quick (perhaps a little too quick) admission into this ragtag band, Polly has barely figured out the strategic placement of...er... socks in maintaining her disguise when she realizes all is not what it appears to be in the Ins-and-Outs Infantry Regiment. The country's greatest problem is their principal divinity, Nuggan, whose Living Testament is contained in a ring binder to keep up with the ever-expanding list of Abominations, which include chocolate, cats, the color blue, and...ears. Borogravians are at war entirely due to their devotion to Nuggan, a being either senile or dead, leaving the country bewildered and paralyzed by his increasingly absurd demands. When Polly fears the surly Corporal Strappi suspects her true gender, execution seems imminent, for a woman posing as a man is yet another Abomination to Nuggan. But Polly soon finds even more on her plate than a theoretically outraged god: the troop is perpetually under assault by the Prince of Zlobenia's forces for having disgraced him in public, while being secretly-if ineffectually-aided by Samuel Vimes and William de Worde. And as wartime horrors mount, so does Polly's realization that she's not the only soldier with a secret...and that their officers are hopelessly out of touch. It will take all of Polly's refreshing brand of common sense to keep the regiment from self-destructing beneath an incompetent command and an indifferent deity. (Approx. 320 pp.) (SFBC summary)
Monstrous Regiment was a British feminist theatre company during the 1970s and 1980s. The name is taken from the Knox pamphlet.
