Corporal Katrina Hodge, nicknamed ‘Combat Barbie’ by her colleagues, became a La Senza underwear model in Fall 2009, after winning second place as Miss England.

The 22-year-old corporal with the Royal Anglian regiment received a bravery medal for her services in Iraq, disarming an insurgent with her bare hands. Hodge and her team arrested an Iraqi suspect and then found themselves in an overturned vehicle.

‘Our vehicle rolled over and when I came round the Iraqi had escaped and had our weapons. I knew I had to do something or he would have shot us all dead. It was a real do or die moment.’

‘My training just kicked in and I managed to disarm him, get the weapons back and restrain him. via Daily Mail

Corporal Hodge next swapped her beret and army fatigues on certain days for the sexy modelling job with La Senza, melding the two by arranging a 15 per cent discount to all British servicemen and women.

This wasn’t the end of her tendency to ‘connect dots’ in her life. Hodges seems to specialize in linking possibilities together, which is good because another twist was coming her way.

By early Nov 2009, Corporeal Katrina Hodge was no longer runner up Miss England. The previous title holder, Rachel Christie, had been involved in an alleged nightclub brawl, which ended her reign.

The ‘can do’ Corporal Hodge asked to have the Miss England title, be a lingerie model for La Senza and continue to serve in the British army simultaneously. Hodge carried the day, which got her to thinking.

Believing that posing in swimsuits is in beauty pageant competition is totally nerve-racking for women, Corporeal Hodge has persuaded the Miss England competition to end the swimsuit competition, inserting an athletic competition instead.

Shine reports in their Hodge overview that when the Miss America pageant polled viewers in 2000 about ending the swimsuit competition, 50% of viewers said they would no longer watch it. In 1994 73% wanted to keep the swimsuit competition.

We have no stats about the breakdown by sex. At Victoria’s Secret men always watched the fashion shows but only bought 10% of the product. Who are the advertisers for Miss America? How many women said they would leave the show vs men?

Corporeal Katrina Hodge is a fresh reality to the growing ‘warrior goddess’ fashion trend that’s everywhere. I argue that this is more than a fashion editorial issue. Most of us are wounded and confused, as our economic and political institutions are in a state of disarray.

Women’s values were changing before the global economic meltdown. A significant percentage want a different positioning for what makes a beauty queen.

Corporeal Hodge combines beauty, sex appeal, smarts, and enormous competence in a confident presentation. We’re not romanticizing Hodge’s work in Iraq. But her kick-butt, aggressive yet warm confidence is invigorating to many women who want to break out of their cute girl box without giving up their sex appeal.

This trailblazer defines today’s Smart Sensuality woman. What a great look into today’s British woman. Anne