This is an article that was sent in by one of my readers who wishes to remain anonymous.
This was done because of a previous article I wrote about this subject on oppression.
I remember from my earliest memories my wonderful mother curling my
hair and picking out these princess-like dresses for me to wear for
school….I would have rather been outside playing with my brother and
cousin in military fatigues with my face painted green, black, and
brown. I shook my fist at being girly and feminine. My childhood dream
was to join the military. I loved the environment (or my imagination
of that environment).
I ended up joining the military. Taking an oath to protect and obey
orders. I began my year long training by going to basic training. I
was given uniforms….oh wait, the man behind me got the same ones.
There were three different articles of clothing in the main uniform
that were different. I wore sports bras–the men did not. I wore
granny panties–the men wore briefs. I wore women’s running shoes–the
men wore theirs. Besides my haircut and buttocks, you couldn’t tell
which gender I was. I wore the same uniform, exercised the same way,
and was treated the same as the men in the unit. I did this for months
while in training. No civilian clothes. No differentiation besides
menstrual cycles and different sleeping quarters. I couldn’t stand it.
I couldn’t wait until I could put dress on….to feel beautiful….to
not look and expected to act like a man.
The day came where I could leave the fort and go into town and buy
civilian clothes. I headed straight to the dress section. I bought a
beautiful outfit and had one of my friends fix my hair (because I
didn’t know how to do anything besides a pony tail, bun, or leaving it
down). I got earrings and a necklace and even put some perfume on. I
look in the mirror—A sigh of relief– I feel like a woman again. I
never knew the importance of how we dress, look, and act. I am a woman
and need to dress, look, and act like one. Men are men and need to
dress, look, and act like one. You don’t think it matters?
If you don’t think it matters please respond with your experiences relating to the consequences of women being masculine and/or men being feminine.
Disciple's Perspective 
October 10th, 2013 at 11:48 am
This was a great read. My observations of women in the Army (Australian) have been quite similar. Taking it the next step, I’ve seen quite a lot of women who after feeling quite ‘masculine’ take overt steps to receive the attention that is due to women. Just looking, behaving and feeling like a women often isn’t enough. It seems that women in these types of jobs find a need to be acknowledged by their peers as well, often leading them down a slippery path and attention seeking. Not to mention behaving in a way that the military culture expects women to act. I wonder if the original writer had any thoughts on this?
October 10th, 2013 at 4:51 pm
So moved by this one!
October 12th, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Cheers! That’s what the hope is…
October 10th, 2013 at 5:38 pm
Women are built to be the caretakers; sweet, gentle and feminine. Men need us to be that way, just as we need them to be strong and give us a feeling of protection. Both genders have very specific roles. When those roles are reversed, it causes confusion among everyone, even the one with the reversed role.
As for the military and dressing like a man, I can see how that would give a feeling of power to a woman; especially to one that had no such power before. However deep down, a woman is a woman and no matter what she does on the outside to try to hide that, she’s still a woman. I believe that most women want and need to be treated and seen as a woman, even if they don’t admit it. We’re just designed that way.