Earlier this month, Fox News host Tucker Carlson bemoaned the fact that the U.S. military was becoming “more feminine.” A new flight suit designed for pregnant women apparently offended the conservative gadfly, who never served in the armed forces and spent his youth at private boarding schools in the U.S. and Switzerland.
The military’s top brass forcefully pushed back. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shares the “revulsion” of many senior leaders who have expressed outrage over Carlson’s comments, which also targeted new rules giving female soldiers flexibility with regards to their hairstyle.
Yet, while the Pentagon made a point of denouncing Carlson’s sexism, many women in the military feel that actual policies lag behind the gender-inclusive rhetoric.
From The Washington Post:
“female service members continue to face an array of systemic challenges, including underrepresentation at the military’s highest levels; widespread sexual harassment and abuse; and pregnancy-related career impediments.”
The Post also points out that “government studies show that women, who represent only about 16 percent of the overall force, leave the military at significantly higher rates than men, often citing the toll of sexual assault and the challenges of balancing family and military life.”
Things have improved for women in the military in recent years. Earlier in March, President Joe Biden nominated Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost of the Air Force and Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson of the Army to elite, four-star commands. And whereas women were once automatically discharged if they were pregnant, now they receive twelve months of maternity leave.
Secretary of Defense Austin has also vowed to fight rampant sexual assault in the military.
Still, barriers remain. Pregnant women are often barred from some positions – like those that require handling chemicals, for example – that can impact their career trajectory. And many female soldiers complain they’re not given enough time to “make weight” after they give birth.
More from The Washington Post:
Female troops say unconscious bias pervades treatment of military pregnancies. When the female Army officer, then a company commander, finished leading her first major exercise, her second-in-command praised her, saying she had exceeded his expectations. When she had been assigned to lead their unit, he told her, he thought she would quickly get pregnant and dump her duties onto him.
Kirby, the Pentagon spokesperson, has conceded, “We still have a lot of work to do to make our military more inclusive, more respectful of everyone, especially women.”