TW: Sexual Harassment
In February 2003, I was deployed to Kuwait. While there was terror, and bombings, sexual harassment from third country nationals, insane heat, port-a-johns, and being far, far from home and security, none of that compared to a much more real and present threat.
In February 2003, I was deployed to Kuwait. While there was terror, and bombings, sexual harassment from third country nationals, insane heat, port-a-johns, and being far, far from home and security, none of that compared to a much more real and present threat.
During my entire deployment, women were warned not to go anywhere alone. Not to the dining halls, not the the bathroom containers, nor the shower tents.
The thing is, this was nothing new. My military career started this way. During basic training, one of the male recruits assaulted one of the female recruits. One of the drill sergeants sexually harassed another recruit. When I first arrived at Fort Hood, someone attempted to grab my hair and kiss me. When I returned from Kuwait, someone attempted to assault me at a party.
It's a military culture of entitlement. Machismo is promoted, and femininity has a very narrow definition. I don't know how much has changed since I left the service in 2005. But it took me a very long time to come to terms with my service. I didn't actively claim my veteran status outside of using the GI Bill for many years.
I'm a little bit more aware of rape culture and feminist issues now. Looking back at my time in the Army, in Kuwait especially, I'm very troubled. I'm not sure if I can do anything more than talk about it.
I'm not sure what there would be for me to do if I could. All I know is that it needs to stop. Maybe we could even have as a goal that women in the military would feel safer than the women in the areas we're trying to help.
No comments:
Post a Comment