Monday, March 15, 2010

Navy Fires Foul- Mouthed ‘Captain Bligh’

Navy Fires Foul- Mouthed ‘Captain Bligh’



The Star Tribune put out an article on March 8th about a woman Navy captain fired because of her “foul mouth.”(8 March, 2010) This article starts by making this woman sound like she did something terrible; someone being fired from a Captain’s position would surely have to have done something so horrific to be let go from the Navy. This woman was fired because of her foul language. As I continued to read I found myself wondering what this woman was doing that was different from any men in the Navy. The Star Tribune interviewed a couple of people that were under her command; it was said that this woman was verbally abusive and one man said that she degraded him by putting him in “time out.” I believe that this article brings up a major gender issue. The Army, Marines, and Navy are notorious for their harsh behavior when preparing people to get into the field. I find myself very confused that a woman is fired for a “foul mouth” when I believe that when a man does this it’s not even thought about. This also goes to show that even in the Navy a woman still must act like a lady or else she may face the consequences of being kicked out. I am extremely frustrated with this article because I believe that in the Navy everyone should be held at the same standards, everyone’s signing up for the same goals, right?

Anonymous (2010) Navy Fires Fouled Mouth ‘Captain Bligh.’ WWW.Startribune.com. 8 March, 2010.


Brianna

4 comments:

  1. Hey Brianna,

    This is Anne, writing from Mexico. I think that your blog brings up a really interesting point that we've been discussing down here, which is the impact of gender and gender roles on daily life. Although I don't know much about the specifics of this navy case, the expectation of women to be "lady-like" is something that happens frequently in a patriarchal society like Mexico. We recently visited a substance abuse treatment center and the woman who presented to us stated that the clients of the center were primarily men. She attributed this to the fact that in a culture that is heavy on "machismo", it is unacceptable for a woman to have a substance abuse problem because drinking is primarily a male activity. Few women seek treatment for themselves in Mexico, but instead often play the role of supporter for a husband or son who has a substance abuse problem. It's interesting to hear of a current event in the United States that deals with a similar gender issue. Thanks for writing!

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  2. Hello Brianna,

    I am Amanda, studying in Mexico this semester. I found your blog interesting and quite sad. As women I believe that there are standards that are supposed to be equal yet lack the enforcement when gender is an issue. I am surprised that the Navy would fire a woman for doing something most likely men do in the Navy. I believe this is due to the expectation for women to hold themselves composed and acceptable. In Mexico, I have noticed that women are subject to more Stricter roles than men are. When staying with a host family a couple weeks back I noticed that my host mother acted more proper when her husband and sons were home compared to when they left to go to work and school. It is interesting to hear such a current story about gender issues, and sadly I am not surprised at the inequality that still exists today in terms of the standards of men and women. I hope in the future that separate these standards will not exist. Thank you for your insight on the issue! Amanda

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  3. This is Leah, from Augsburg, and I had not heard about this til reading your blog and i cannot believe it just like you. The gender roles the have been socialized into this society still hold true for a woman even when she's in a "mans world/job". Also, the facet they said she was putting them in "time outs" just shows that it was still the motherly role instead of the harsh male dominance role they were used to. I think that's just it, they aren't used to being disciplined in the services by a woman and find it threatening. Woman in the military face so many problems just because they are a woman and having to still deal with this when she has gotten to the Captain position is ridiculous and i wish there was a bigger uproar about what happened here. Thanks for your post!

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  4. This article reinforces the fact that culture is still catching up and that sexual discrimination can be found without looking too hard. I have heard different stories about how men in the military have punished other soldiers and those cases were much more severe than using "foul language". I think that the men in this particular situation did not like that they had to be submissive to a woman and that this simple fact set off overreaction to the situation.

    -Ashley Watson

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