We are resurrecting the blog and the extended show notes. This week, I spoke with a Marine officer who finds herself in the precarious predicament of reporting her abuser and somehow finding herself getting pushed out of the Corps.
I wish I could tell you this is a outlier, but as we've been seeing in the last couple of years, women have a much different experience with the world than men. My wife was reading me a list of things women would do if men all had a 9pm curfew, and I gotta say it's weird to hear women wishing they could do the things you take for granted. Walking the dog at night, going to a bar to read a book, existing without being harassed. Things of that nature. I am the father of a wonderful daughter, and it pains me to think one day she might be too scared to go out and exist in this world without being accosted by some man who hasn't learned how to accept a woman saying 'No'.
The military has a problem with toxicity. I am reminded of a story told by Justin Rose, an officer in the military, about an assault that happened to him. About how vulnerable he felt and betrayed by the people who called him bother. The military is supposed to be a place which welcomes the outcasts, the wierdos, and the people who don't fit in. The military should be a place where everyone comes together and learns how to live and interact because that's your workspace. I have never had a more diverse working group than in the Army, and I cannot imagine any of my fellow soldiers betraying or leaving me behind because of an assault.
But it happens. And good people are turned away from the help they need. Their abusers are given free reign to continue existing in this world, and no one bats an eye. Maybe it's getting better, and maybe it's better than it used to be, but it's not good enough. Our sister and brothers in arms deserve better.