Pity poor General Jerry Boykin, who cites crippling pee-shame as a reason why women should not be allowed to take on combat roles in the U.S. military (never mind that women have been on the front lines of U.S. military engagements since the days of "Molly Pitcher" (for a stirring tale of heroism in the early days of the American Revolution, one can't beat the "better than fiction" tale of sixteen-year-old Sibyl Ludington).
Boykin's ridiculous assertion that shame about one's dirty business would undermine morale in a gender-equal military reminds me of the "God of the Gaps" argument used by Creationists and other religious apologists, which posits that divine causes are necessary to account for lacunae in scientific knowledge. As science progresses, the gaps shrink, there's less room for God, and the apologists move their goalposts and find another "gap" to defend. In the case of those arguing that women should not have equal opportunity, male supremacist apologists claim that women are unable to perform certain tasks. As women demonstrate that they have the ability to excel in traditionally male-dominated fields, the arguments of the sexists become more ludicrous, the goalposts move to the extent that assholes like Boykin are reduced to citing their, uh, assholes as a reason to deny equal opportunity to women- the "God of the Achievement Gaps" gets smaller and smaller.
Cross-posted at Rumproast.
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7 comments:
2 things. First, does this idiot think soldiers are the only participants in war? Or perhaps the only ones with excretory functions? All the women refugees, all the ones with destroyed homes in shattered cities, all the ones with wounds and dysentery and hunger? They crap out in the open, just like the troops that killed them, hurt their families and broke their shit. It is the least of anybody's problem in combat. You haven't really lived until you've seen an M60 gunner suppressing an ambush, loading a fresh belt, changing the barrel and taking a shit all at the same time. There's something about incoming fire that makes modesty seem inconsequential.
Second, let me introduce you to one of my heroes, Senior Sergeant Roza Georgiyevna Shanina. Sniper with the 184th. 54 confirmed kills (that means probably about 200 actual kills) including 12 snipers during the Battle of Vilnius.
Oh. Did I mention she was smart, stunningly gorgeous, a remarkable precision rifle shooter and deadly in combat? There are very few men with this kind of skill, courage, coolness under fire and ability.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roza_Shanina
warning for Bastard-Bait at the Empire.
If those of the Boy-kin object to working alongside women, rather than demanding a right of veto over who else is allowed into the job, have they considered changing careers?
Spelling Pedant has a sad re. post title.
Israel has:
1) Women in combat
2) Universal health care
3) Gun control
But righties never complain about that, or the fact that it all depends on Uncle Sam's welfare.
~
man, if only that Uncle Sam guy would help US out!
Second, let me introduce you to one of my heroes, Senior Sergeant Roza Georgiyevna Shanina. Sniper with the 184th. 54 confirmed kills (that means probably about 200 actual kills) including 12 snipers during the Battle of Vilnius.
WOW!
warning for Bastard-Bait at the Empire.
Thanks for the heads up! It's a good-un!
If those of the Boy-kin object to working alongside women, rather than demanding a right of veto over who else is allowed into the job, have they considered changing careers?
I think they see the infantry as the last refuge from teh wimmins.
Spelling Pedant has a sad re. post title.
Thanks! I hastily banged this out in a cafe while on my "up river" eagle-watching tour.
But righties never complain about that, or the fact that it all depends on Uncle Sam's welfare.
The fantasy "straw Israel" of their dreams is real-er than the actual nation and society of Israel. I CAN HAZ RAPTURE?
man, if only that Uncle Sam guy would help US out!
Shya!
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