What to Say to Men Who Have Negative Opinions on Females in the Military

[Languagelover23]

No, make note of it.

And if at sometime in the future you're able to context any examples of those negative opinions that were directed towards female members of the military... Try hard not to be that chick.
You will likely receive enough support from peers and superiors if you're not that chick

Note taken, thanks

[crazymjb]

I hate to break it to you, but it only gets worse before it gets better. As long as you keep your head up, and be the *****(female dog synonym), not the slut, you should be fine. Again, I can't stress that enough. My fiance and I have both been in for coming up on 3 years (and together longer than that), and the crap she has had to deal with makes me pretty ****ed off, but there's nothing I can do except be happy that she chose *****. Sexual harassment, which is all too prevalent in the military, was really only a big issue for her in her MOS schooling. Once she got to her unit and people realized she wasn't there to mess around she hasn't had any real problems, except when they link up with other units and people who don't know her, and it turns into her telling people off again...

Just be prepared, there are some pretty big D-bags in the military with regard to how they treat women. Just remember nobody can make you do anything, if you have to get one of your instructors, superiors, fellow Marines, etc kicked out of the Marine Corps, your probably doing the Corps a favor, as well as many other women in the Marine Corps. There are plenty of Marines who aren't POS's, if you need to help a few of the junk ones find their way out, go right ahead. Don't let anyone take advantage of you in any way shape or form, that is not what Marines do.

Good luck,

Mike

[Languagelover23]

I hate to break it to you, but it only gets worse before it gets better. As long as you keep your head up, and be the *****(female dog synonym), not the slut, you should be fine. Again, I can't stress that enough. My fiance and I have both been in for coming up on 3 years (and together longer than that), and the crap she has had to deal with makes me pretty ****ed off, but there's nothing I can do except be happy that she chose *****. Sexual harassment, which is all too prevalent in the military, was really only a big issue for her in her MOS schooling. Once she got to her unit and people realized she wasn't there to mess around she hasn't had any real problems, except when they link up with other units and people who don't know her, and it turns into her telling people off again...

Just be prepared, there are some pretty big D-bags in the military with regard to how they treat women. Just remember nobody can make you do anything, if you have to get one of your instructors, superiors, fellow Marines, etc kicked out of the Marine Corps, your probably doing the Corps a favor, as well as many other women in the Marine Corps. There are plenty of Marines who aren't POS's, if you need to help a few of the junk ones find their way out, go right ahead. Don't let anyone take advantage of you in any way shape or form, that is not what Marines do.

Good luck,

Mike

Excellent Mike, thanks for keeping it real.

Thank you and your wife for your service.

Any silly males will know very quickly what I'm about. I wanted to join the best and be the best. If I wanted to be a whiner, I would have joined the Chair Force with my best friend : D

[crazymjb]

No problem. I am not trying to scare you, but I think knowledge is power, and if you are going to be a cryptolinguist, I'm sure you know how to utilize it.

Again, good luck. Keep your head up. Never let your guard down. Don't be afraid to be a complete and total b!tch and assert yourself when necessary.

Mike

[Languagelover23]

Don't worry about it. Radio BNs and support BNs aren't like the rest of the Marine Corps. Lots of females in the linguist field.

So you were in a radio battalion? I'd love to hear about your experiences.

[Languagelover23]

No problem. I am not trying to scare you, but I think knowledge is power, and if you are going to be a cryptolinguist, I'm sure you know how to utilize it.

Again, good luck. Keep your head up. Never let your guard down. Don't be afraid to be a complete and total b!tch and assert yourself when necessary.

Mike

Thank you for that advice. I have been wondering if it's acceptable to deal with aggressive people that way in the military. I bow down for no one. I will be a very successful linguist, I'm almost positive. I have a LOT of experience with foreign languages, and I want to get my hands dirty and use that to actually help.

[crazymjb]

If anyone treats you wrong, especially a superior, and even moreso an instructor, you hit them with the book. Long story short my fiance's roommate was suicidal due to her run-ins with an instructor, who went from SSgt to Pvt to Civilian pretty quickly after that. That should have happened long before he was able to hurt her that much. Unfortunately that wasn't the only instructor there acting in that manner, and hopefully the others got what they had coming.

Your an adult, the second a Marine acts outside of their professional duty, they no longer rate anything because of their rank. They are a POS that needs to be thrown out in the trash. There is a reason you have the ability to request mast, its to bypass problems, such as a Gunny who warns you that if you make official claims you will just be at (insert training site here) longer while they investigate. I urge you to react as you feel appropriate to any problems you have, save some other weaker minded girls like my fiances roommate the trouble down the road.

I'm not guaranteeing you have any serious issues like this, but honestly, her MOS schooling was such a **** show I would have liked to see that whole place burned to the ground. On the other hand, when she was in MCT, the female instructors were the ones who acted unprofessionally, so it goes both ways. Just be aware.

Mike

[Languagelover23]

If anyone treats you wrong, especially a superior, and even moreso an instructor, you hit them with the book. Long story short my fiance's roommate was suicidal due to her run-ins with an instructor, who went from SSgt to Pvt to Civilian pretty quickly after that. That should have happened long before he was able to hurt her that much. Unfortunately that wasn't the only instructor there acting in that manner, and hopefully the others got what they had coming.

Your an adult, the second a Marine acts outside of their professional duty, they no longer rate anything because of their rank. They are a POS that needs to be thrown out in the trash. There is a reason you have the ability to request mast, its to bypass problems, such as a Gunny who warns you that if you make official claims you will just be at (insert training site here) longer while they investigate. I urge you to react as you feel appropriate to any problems you have, save some other weaker minded girls like my fiances roommate the trouble down the road.

I'm not guaranteeing you have any serious issues like this, but honestly, her MOS schooling was such a **** show I would have liked to see that whole place burned to the ground. On the other hand, when she was in MCT, the female instructors were the ones who acted unprofessionally, so it goes both ways. Just be aware.

Mike

What is mast? Remember, I'm only a poolee : D

[crazymjb]

You'll learn about it in boot camp. But basically you skip the chain off command because they can't help you/you lost faith in them and go straight to someone above (you can essentially choose the level) to get your problem fixed. It's a last ditch thing, and I doubt you'd ever have to use it period, let alone once you get settled in a unit, but in MOS school where you don't really have a "chain of command," if you have a serious issue, go ahead and use it, it's there for a reason.

Mike

[Languagelover23]

You'll learn about it in boot camp. But basically you skip the chain off command because they can't help you/you lost faith in them and go straight to someone above (you can essentially choose the level) to get your problem fixed. It's a last ditch thing, and I doubt you'd ever have to use it period, let alone once you get settled in a unit, but in MOS school where you don't really have a "chain of command," if you have a serious issue, go ahead and use it, it's there for a reason.

Mike

Ok. I understand what you mean. This is clearly an irrelevant experience to real military personnel, but in high school, I was the corps commander of my AFJROTC unit, and I tried my hardest to go over my chain of command, because my instructors were destroying the unit. I remember that feeling of frustration while seeing my entire unit brought way below standard because our officer instructor retired and the MSgt's refused to let us do any of our regular events. I'm talking no more community service, no more training for cadets, nothing. I was upset because just being in JROTC made a huge change in me and my fellow cadets, and I did not want that feeling to be taken from future students.

[Tennessee Top]

Request Mast is a very important tool but should only be used as a last resort as stated above. You can imagine how your command will feel when you basically claim you have no confidence in their ability to resolve your issues(s). It can solve your problems but it can also create new problems for you. In a school enviornment, remember, it's the command who issues grades, class standings, permanent duty station assignments, etc. They may use the Request Mast proceedings as an excuse to retaliate against you. That is not supposed to happen but it does. Yes, you want justice, but remember there may be unexpected/undeserved consequences too.

You do not want to have the reputation of requesting mast as you will be branded a trouble-maker. As a career Marine with 22.6 years on active duty, I never once had a need to request mast; but, I never had to worry about sexual harrassment either.

During my career, I had the opportunity to work with and lead many female Marines. I would say 90% of them were squared-away and good-to-go (you always have your ten percenters in every group). I can understand the point crazymjb is trying to make but I wouldn't agree being a ***** is the right way to go. Personally, a female Marine under my leadership with that reputation would be counselled accordingly. I would prefer she, as well as her male counterparts, have reputations as professionals instead. If you are a professional at all times, that hopefully would be enough to prevent most problems.

You sound like you are intelligent and mature enough to figure things out on your own and I'm sure you will do just fine. Just do the best you can every day. Good luck.

[crazymjb]

I should emphasize I didn't mean be a ***** all around in daily life, but when it comes to getting hit on, etc, don't take it, at all, let it slide, etc. Laughing off flirting doesn't work, at least as far as I am told.

The Master Sgt is right about saying mast is a last resort... but my fiance's roommate probably should have used it before she attempted suicide. Sometimes **** is that bad, you don't need to necessarily expect it, but be prepared for it.

Mike

[Languagelover23]

I should emphasize I didn't mean be a ***** all around in daily life, but when it comes to getting hit on, etc, don't take it, at all, let it slide, etc. Laughing off flirting doesn't work, at least as far as I am told.

The Master Sgt is right about saying mast is a last resort... but my fiance's roommate probably should have used it before she attempted suicide. Sometimes **** is that bad, you don't need to necessarily expect it, but be prepared for it.

Mike

Thanks for that. No, I don't want to walk around with a chip on my shoulder 24/7 lol. I just meant when the need arises.

Where are all our WM's to contribute here? I think this type of advice would be great to share with other female poolees.

[tdrt]

My "business associate" who I have known for about a year, basically said that he never met a single woman he respected while in the Army. He said they all got rank and promotions by being on their backs or on their knees. He called them "useless" to all branches of the military. I politely disagreed. I said, what about the FET? Males can't do what they are doing, so isn't that essential to the mission? And he basically signed off on me.

I was just offended because he knows me. I am a married 23 year old woman and for him to insinuate I would be included in that category just got me riled ...

Get used to it. You will deal with this attitude every damn day and it won't matter if you're married or not.

[Marine84]

Girl, you are in for a rude awakening. Best learn now to keep your mouth shut when a man starts in on that $h!t. It's a losing battle. Let your actions show how great a Woman Marine you are..................IF you make it through boot camp.