I'm the Captain of my Ship!
As a female veteran that served 10 honorable years in the Navy, I would like to express my experience in the military during the 1980’s. The attitude during this time was, if a woman joined the military, she was looking for a husband. The males called us “Waves” and even had disrespectful sayings such as: “We're riding the Waves”! I will personally say from my own experience and the experience of several other female sailors, none of us enlisted in the military to find a husband!
There were many reasons as to why we decided as young woman to leave the safety of our homes and family and explore the world by “Sailing the Seven Seas” so to speak. I would say, mainly, because we were defiant and rebelling! Why should males be the only ones to have all the fun and go out into the world and live life to its fullest, while women were expected to remain innocent to the truth and be beguiled by men’s over exaggerated tales and fantasies about their life experiences!
As for me, I didn’t want to imagine anymore. I wanted to find out on my own what else the world had to offer besides cooking, cleaning, and the expectation of getting married and having babies as soon as I graduated from high school. Some girls joined the Navy to escape an abusive home or a bad relationship, and we even had a divorced high school teacher that joined at the age of 32. She said she wanted to get out and go into the world and travel to some of the countries and lands that she spent so many years teaching her students about.
No matter what the reason for myself and other females joining the military, most of us had in common a strong desire to make it on our own. Oh, it was pretty darn scary at first, but I caught on and got the hang of it and in the long run, I became a strong, independent woman. I also found out the world is a very interesting place indeed. I could say a whole lot about women and independence and the impact it has had on society and the women of today, but I am not going to go there! My main point was to share my thoughts and experience as a Navy girl during the 80’s. I don’t know if the same attitude about women in the military still exist today, but I would love to hear from women currently serving in the military. It’s been over 12 years since I was in the Navy; I would love to hear if attitudes have changed for the better over the years.
I just want to point out before I end this blog, in case some of you think I sound angry, that I am not a hostile or angry female. I happen to love men and wouldn’t want to live in this exciting world without them. However, a woman’s world doesn’t always revolve around men!
There were many reasons as to why we decided as young woman to leave the safety of our homes and family and explore the world by “Sailing the Seven Seas” so to speak. I would say, mainly, because we were defiant and rebelling! Why should males be the only ones to have all the fun and go out into the world and live life to its fullest, while women were expected to remain innocent to the truth and be beguiled by men’s over exaggerated tales and fantasies about their life experiences!
As for me, I didn’t want to imagine anymore. I wanted to find out on my own what else the world had to offer besides cooking, cleaning, and the expectation of getting married and having babies as soon as I graduated from high school. Some girls joined the Navy to escape an abusive home or a bad relationship, and we even had a divorced high school teacher that joined at the age of 32. She said she wanted to get out and go into the world and travel to some of the countries and lands that she spent so many years teaching her students about.
No matter what the reason for myself and other females joining the military, most of us had in common a strong desire to make it on our own. Oh, it was pretty darn scary at first, but I caught on and got the hang of it and in the long run, I became a strong, independent woman. I also found out the world is a very interesting place indeed. I could say a whole lot about women and independence and the impact it has had on society and the women of today, but I am not going to go there! My main point was to share my thoughts and experience as a Navy girl during the 80’s. I don’t know if the same attitude about women in the military still exist today, but I would love to hear from women currently serving in the military. It’s been over 12 years since I was in the Navy; I would love to hear if attitudes have changed for the better over the years.
I just want to point out before I end this blog, in case some of you think I sound angry, that I am not a hostile or angry female. I happen to love men and wouldn’t want to live in this exciting world without them. However, a woman’s world doesn’t always revolve around men!
posted by SailorGirl @ 11:26 AM
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