Difference between revisions of "328 2010--Week 10 Questions/Comments"
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(→Women in the Armed Forces, Marion Stegeman) |
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While these women were successful in being the first WAC women to travel to Italy and North Africa, the standards that they were selected from, I found a bit outrageous. “WAC advisers recommended that any such groups, for best success, be carefully selected,” (375). The fact that certain types of women were unwanted while others seems very odd coming from a women’s organization, you would think that they would be accepting of all types of women (of course ‘all types of women’ being white upper/middle class). “Those with irritating habits and mannerisms,” (376) weren’t chosen because they were too much to handle and, I think, would take away emphasis on the men of the Army. “The ambitious or the highly qualified women,” (376) weren’t a good choice either because they may want something that they couldn’t ever have, a promotion. Those women chosen for this job, of following the Fifth Army around, were essentially passive, pushovers. I may be generalizing too much and I’m sure some of the women may have been more, but from what I understand, to be one of the first WAC women needed in combat they had to be submissive, average, and boring. I suppose some women who behave do make history. -Morgan | While these women were successful in being the first WAC women to travel to Italy and North Africa, the standards that they were selected from, I found a bit outrageous. “WAC advisers recommended that any such groups, for best success, be carefully selected,” (375). The fact that certain types of women were unwanted while others seems very odd coming from a women’s organization, you would think that they would be accepting of all types of women (of course ‘all types of women’ being white upper/middle class). “Those with irritating habits and mannerisms,” (376) weren’t chosen because they were too much to handle and, I think, would take away emphasis on the men of the Army. “The ambitious or the highly qualified women,” (376) weren’t a good choice either because they may want something that they couldn’t ever have, a promotion. Those women chosen for this job, of following the Fifth Army around, were essentially passive, pushovers. I may be generalizing too much and I’m sure some of the women may have been more, but from what I understand, to be one of the first WAC women needed in combat they had to be submissive, average, and boring. I suppose some women who behave do make history. -Morgan | ||
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| + | I'm not sure that I would call them submissive or passive at all. These women were carefully selected for unusual military situations the same way men were selected then and both sexes are selected nowadays. Character flaws may not be such a big deal in the regular infantry or a typical steno pool, but under stressful conditions "irritating habits" can severely damage the morale of the entire unit. For such an elite unit, grouchy or talkative MEN would not be chosen, nor would overqualified men OR women (not just because they can't be promoted, but more because the unit has to work together and every member has to carry out orders given by authority to make the unit run smoothly. If one member thinks they are better than the rest--has had more training or a higher IQ or anything--that causes unrest in the unit, which is the last thing you need on the front lines, which is where these women were). It seems to me that men would be held to these same standards when selecting an elite unit. Self-reliance, the ability to handle stress, and the ability to work well with others--these are not specific to females. These courageous and ground-breaking women challenged perceptions of both the soldiers and their commanding officers, and I'm sure the public reading about them on the home front. --Sarah Smethurst | ||
==Japanese Relocation, Monica Sone== | ==Japanese Relocation, Monica Sone== | ||
