Author Archives: Antonia Massa

“Be Safe I Love You” Highlights Struggle of Female Vet Returning Home

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In our most revered war literature, female soldiers are often nowhere to be found. A new novel tells a war story from a female perspective.

“Be Safe I Love You” by Cara Hoffman examines a topic still largely untouched in fiction– the struggles female soldiers face upon returning home from war. The story follows Lauren Clay, an Iraq war veteran who returns to her home in upstate New York haunted by her experience in the U.S. military. It’s an important new take on traditional, male dominated war literature.

 

You can read a review of “Be Safe I Love You” in the New York Times Sunday Book Review this weekend.

Hagel Calls for Review of Military Transgender Ban

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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the country’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the U.S. military “continually should be reviewed.” Though Hagel did not explicitly state whether he thinks the policy should be eliminated, he did say that any person qualified to join the military should be allowed to do so.

Congress passed a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010. Guaranteeing that transgender individuals can serve could be the next frontier of LGBTQ equal opportunity in the U.S. military.

Hagel’s remarks were applauded by LGBTQ advocacy groups, including the National Center for Transgender Equality.

You can read more about Hagel’s remarks on Fox.

 

How Can We Break the Brass Ceiling?

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We don’t just need more women in the military– we need more military women in leadership roles.

In an op-ed, Ruth Marcus applies “Lean In” thinking to  the U.S. Naval Academy. She argues that the “brass ceiling” undermines equality in military leadership:  only two women have been awarded a fourth star. And less than 8 percent of general officers (generals and admirals)  are female.

Read the full op-ed here.

West Point Moves to Recruit More Female Cadets

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West Point is on a mission to increase its female enrollment.

The U.S. military academy wants to boost its number of female cadets, who are greatly outnumbered by their male peers. West Point’s new superintendent, Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, said that he would make it a priority to recruit more top female talent to join the Long Grey Line.

“We obviously have to increase the female population for a number of reasons,”  Caslen told the AP. “One is because there are more opportunities in the branches for the females.”

West Point has the lowest female enrollment of any of the U.S. military academies. Compared to the Naval and Air Force academies, where women make up around 22 percent of the student body, at West Point, 16 percent of cadets are female.

To encourage more young women to consider applying to West Point, the military academy created new mailings targeted to girls in their freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school.

The number of women nominated for admission is also on the rise.

Read the full AP story here.

 

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ABC US News | ABC Business News

A group of military-affiliated women at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Lacey, Washington gather every Saturday night to socialize– and compete– at their Roller Derby League. The JBLM Bettie Brigade Team is a mix of active duty servicewomen, female vets and military wives.

“This team gets me away from all the stress at work. Once I get here I don’t worry about anything that has to do with work,” U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Sarah Sangster (a.k.a.“Darth Saydious”) told ABC News. “You can be anybody you want, be crazy, be weird and they accept you for who you are.”

Read the full story at ABC News.

 

 

 

Army Platoon Artillery Jobs Open Up to Women

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One of the latest frontiers of integration in the U.S. military are army platoon artillery jobs. Women like 1st Lt. Kelly Requa are moving into these positions as the military marches toward its January 2016 deadline to open all combat roles to women. Requa is one of at least eight female lieutenants brought in to lead field artillery units in the 3rd Battalion of the 321st Field Artillery Regiment, stationed near Fayetteville, N.C.

Lt. Col. Christopher Valeriano, the 3rd Battalion’s commander, said in an interview with A.P. that it’s “pretty impressive to see the women coming in and running circles around the men,” he said. Valeriano said that he sees women outperforming their male counterparts all the time.

“Most of my female lieutenants outrun my male lieutenants,” he said. “On overall strength, the males are stronger. But the females — endurance-wise and running — really made these guys take their game up a notch.”

Read the full story from A.P.

War’s (Gender-Skewed?) Psychological Burden

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A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll reveals that female veterans suffer from psychological and physical damage of war in higher numbers. (Photo: Washington Post)

A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll reveals that female veterans suffer from psychological and physical damage of war in higher numbers. (Photo: Washington Post)

Female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from psychological distress and strained relationships in higher numbers than their male counterparts, according to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll.

What’s weighing on them?

For one thing, sexual assault continues to plague the military. About a quarter of  women veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan reported a sexual assault, according to a study by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Family issues are another major source of stress.

Fifty-six percent of female service members say they have often or sometimes experienced relationship problems with their spouse as a result of their military service, while 44 percent of male service members say the same.

Read more results from the Post-Kaiser poll in The Washington Post.

Female Marine’s Op-Ed Reverses an Unequal Rule

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The U.S. Marine Corps will change a policy that prevents female Marines from taking the prestigious Marine Corps Infantry Officers Course a second time, as their male counterparts can, following the publication of a female Marine’s Washington Post op-ed.  In her article, Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Sage Santangelo graphically described the grueling course that lieutenants must take to lead Marine infantry units. Like many of her male peers, she wasn’t able to complete the 17-week course– but unlike them, she wasn’t given a second shot.

In response, Gen. James F. Amos said he ordered a change of rules to reverse this policy.

Read more from Seapower Magazine.

Female Soldiers Bristle at New Hairstyle Rules

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Twists, braids and other hairstyles popular among black women have been specifically banned by the U.S. Army. (Photo: Military Times)

Twists, braids and other hairstyles popular among black women have been specifically banned by the U.S. Army. (Photo: Military Times)

Critics are saying that new U.S. Army regulations banning certain hairstyles are biased against black women.

The new rules ban twists, dreadlocks, multiple braids or cornrows thicker than a quarter of an inch and other styles popular among black women who don’t use chemical relaxer on their hair.

An online petition, which received over 11,000 signatures in two weeks, urges the Obama administration to reconsider Army Regulation 670-1.

Read more about the controversy on USA Today.

 

Times Op-Ed: Where are Female Vets in our Art and Literature?

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A New York Times op-ed highlights the absence of female characters from our war novels, movies and art.

A New York Times op-ed highlights the absence of female characters from our war novels, movies and art.

This New York Times op-ed highlights a problem with the vast majority of our war narratives: women are nowhere to be found in them.

The most prized novels, movies and art we have dealing with war are dominated by men. Cara Hoffman, author of Be Safe I Love You, reminds us in this op-ed that women have been serving in the military in some capacity for over 400 years and have never received the same recognition men have for their service. Today, with more women than ever on the front lines of the U.S. military, they continue to struggle for equal recognition. Women are fighting the same wars men are. Returning home, they continue to battle the same physical and psychological  effects of war that men do.

So where are these women in our war novels and films?

Take a look at Hoffman’s op-ed: The Things She Carried.