Things I Think Female Soldiers Are Probably Tired Of

[desertvixen]

At least, I know this female soldier is.

1) Women aren't in combat.  Okay, not in direct combat.  Okay, not in direct combat UNITS.  And if they are, and they happen to get a Silver Star, we'll yank them out because God forbid we expose women to that kind of danger.  The fact is, there's not really a defined battlefield anymore, and the old regs are just that.  They're old.  They don't apply so well. 

2) Women can't be in combat arms (CA) units because they're weaker than men.  Or because the men can't be trusted to ignore the instinct that says, "Protect the woman at all costs".  They won't be able to keep up.  They'll destroy unit cohesion.  OMG, they menstruate!

I am NOT saying that I, myself, personally, would want to be in a CA unit.  I wouldn't.  I don't think I could make the physical qualifications.  But there are female soldiers I have worked with who could have done that.  Who wanted to do it.  And I think they should be given the chance to try.

3) The Army says it's okay to deploy a woman's who just given birth 4-6 months ago.  Despite the fact that her body is likely not physically recovered from the pregnancy/childbirth experience.  Despite the fact that this plays merry hell with her bonding with her infant.  Despite the fact that other services allow up to 12 months before a woman is deployable again.

I have a feeling that the root of this is the belief that if there's a really long grace period after childbirth, women will game the system.

Again, one of the reasons I'm getting out is because no, I don't like the prospect of spending a year away from my child.  I'll be doing it, but I'm also voting with my feet the next time I get a chance.  I tried it, I don't like it.

4) Insulting male soldiers by calling them "girls", or "ladies".  Implying that they're weak, like women.

5) Sexual assault prevention training that focuses on all the things the victim should NOT do (most of which is sensible advice), but never includes the slide that says:

 Men: Don't Rape.
           Don't keep buying drinks for someone who's already impaired.
           Don't let your buddies do either of the above.

Sorry, got a little ranty and venty there.  But still.  Truth is truth.

DV

Comments

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Regarding #4...I know it's not the same as the military, but I've heard people (generally men) talk about how women can't write music, and that there aren't any women composers because they all write bad music. I haven't heard men insult each other's music by comparing them to girls, but there's definitely the thought that women are inferior/weak/stupid. I mean, it's the 21st century already, and people are still dismissive of women's abilities.

(Have kind of wondered how women deal with menstruation while out in the middle of East Bumfuck, but I guess it's no different than when Auntie Flo comes during camping. Yes! I got my first period on a camping trip! That was fun!)

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of ways to get around the period thing, especially now with the pills you can take so you don't have a period. You can also bring supplies.

The thing about 4 that you bring out is the whole "women haven't done X", when men ignore that historically, men have not ALLOWED women to do X. Especially when X involves art, music, science, etc. There were female artists, composers, etc but you have to dig down deep in history to find them.

DV

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Oh nice. Was *so* not fun to have a period in the middle of the woods, especially with the average maturity of Girl Scouts.

Yeah, and then when women do a given thing, there are going to be differences, because they haven't had access to the same training as men had for centuries. So those differences get interpreted as mistakes. You can't win.

[surreallis.livejournal.com]

Amen. The deployment and combat things don't apply to civilian women, obviously, but the rest still do. And it's so tiring.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

There's plenty of of the stuff that applies to civilian women.

Like pay inequity.

Like professions that are largely female not being paid what they probably should (teachers, people in care providing professions, etc).

Like insurance companies that won't pay for birth control even though a) it would be more cost effective than paying for labor and b) the fact that they do pay for Viagra.

And so on, and so forth.

DV

[rockahulababy.livejournal.com]

I used to post on the military.com boards and the sexism was rampant. The women (read: wives) were just as bad.

There was a post in regards to female Soldiers and pregnancies, specifically when the Soldier experienced complications and was put on bed rest. These guys's solution? Make them stay in the military for the entire time they missed work because of bed rest. Because female Soldiers just WANT complications with their pregnancies to sham and get out of work (the basic implication of said thread). Yeah, right. I think those women would rather have a normal pregnancy and work than have complications that force them to be on bed rest.

And the wives all believed female Soldiers wanted to fuck their husbands.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

And the wives all believed female Soldiers wanted to fuck their husbands.

This one never fails to amuse me.

As far as the complications with pregnancy, that's so full of BS.

Then you have the crew that doesn't want the pregnant soldiers to do ANYTHING. I mean, assuming everything is going normally, doing a desk job up until you have the kid is not going to do anyone any harm.

DV

[rockahulababy.livejournal.com]

I know, right? Not all of us are trying to get in their husband's pants and in some cases, it's their husbands who are trying to get into a female Soldier's pants.

That's what I thought, too. Who wants a complicated pregnancy in order to get out of working? I mean, there are more sensible ways than wishing such a hardship and risk to your health on yourself to not work. And we're not completely incapable of work, either.

I just hate when others try to decide your abilities. I hope I'm making sense here. I am shamming at work, heh. :)

[a21ozcoldcup.livejournal.com]

Not being a woman I can't comment on a lot of the stuff here, though I figure instead of exluding women from combat units, they could simply establish a base physical standard you have to meet in order to serve in the unit, one that doesn't discriminate between sexes. I have known a few women in the Army that could kick my ass at PT and fire better than me. And I have known a few guys that were at the complete opposite of that spectrum.

As far as number 5 goes, (tangent, but related) I was surprised in recent years to see them actually commenting on sexal harrasment/assault between men... it seems that slowly but surely the Army is refreshing it's material in ways to reflect reality. It's not 100% but it's definitely improving.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the physical standard. I know some women who could kick ass at PT, who could kick ass at a lot of the soldiering stuff, and more than that, who wanted to do more. Because obviously, the women who were going into these units would be pretty highly motivated to show what they could do.

Firing isn't dependent on sex, it's dependent on training. The rifle does not know or care what sex you are. However, since many women who come into the army don't have much exposure to weapons, they tend to listen more attentively to the people training them. Again, a lot of us in the Army simply don't get many opportunities TO fire, or practice firing.

The sexual harrassment thing is improving, but a lot of times (at least in our unit) people try to play the men being sexually assaulted/harrassed as a joke. The person who used to teach the class put a stop to that pretty quick.

DV

[katyblue.livejournal.com]

Hey can I add ya? I'm deploying soon, in like two weeks or so. It seems like all my lj army friends have gotten out or are in the process. It would be cool to hear your views on things.

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

Sure!

I'm supposed to be going in about 5 weeks.

I'll add you back.

DV