Fighting
Alongside Men —New York Times article, August 2009. Full
text in pdf.
"Opponents of integrating women
in combat zones long feared that sex would mean the
end of American military prowess. But now birth
control is available — the PX at Warhorse even sold out
of condoms one day recently — reflecting a widely
accepted reality that soldiers have sex at outposts across Iraq.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the first
in which tens of thousands of American military women
have lived, worked and fought with men for prolonged periods.
Wars without front lines, they have done more than just muddle the rules
meant to keep women out of direct enemy contact.
They have changed the way the United States military
goes to war. They have reshaped life on bases across
Iraq and Afghanistan. They have cultivated a new generation
of women with a warrior’s ethos — and combat experience
— that for millennia was almost exclusively the preserve of men."
"Sexual harassment in a still-predominantly
male institution remains a problem. So does sexual assault.
Both are underreported, soldiers and officers here say, because the
rigidity of the military chain of command can make accusations uncomfortable
and even risky for victims living in close quarters with the men they
accuse.
As a precaution, women are advised to travel
in pairs, particularly in smaller bases populated with Iraqi
troops and civilians. Capt. Margaret D. Taafe-McMenamy, commander of
the intelligence analysis cell at Warhorse, carries a folding
knife and a heavy, ridged flashlight — a Christmas gift
from her husband, whom she lives with here — as a precaution
when she is out at night on the base."
“You’re a bitch, a slut or a dyke
— or you’re married, but even if you’re married,
you’re still probably one of the three,” Sergeant Bradford
said.
"Women have sought acceptance
in a still-predominately male environment not by emphasizing their sex
but rather by displaying their toughness, their willingness
to adjust to conditions that are less than ideal.
“I’ve kicked my guys out of the truck to
pee in a bottle like that,” Sgt. Joelene M. Lachance, a soldier
with the 172nd Military Intelligence Battalion, said at Warhorse, pointing
to one of the liter water bottles that are ubiquitous at bases in Iraq.
“Cut the bottle off and pee in the bottle and
then dispose of it. Sometimes it’s an issue, but most of the time,
I just make do.
“I don’t try to, like, ‘I can’t sleep here,’
” she continued. “If they’re sleeping
there, I’m sleeping there. I spent five days
out in the truck once — with six of my guys, sleeping on the floor.”
"In fact, sex in America’s
war zones is fairly common, soldiers say, and has not
generally proved disruptive." The captain’s remarks were
typical. The women serving in today’s military represent a generational
shift. They are confident young women who
have not had to fight the same gender battles their predecessors in
uniform did."
"Women in today’s military
say they do not feel the same pressure to prove themselves. They adapt
and expect others to adapt. They preserve their femininity
without making much of it."
