Gender Violence

Gender and Violence The young woman from the military article was very courageous for coming out and telling her personal story about the rape she endured while serving In the military. I feel the word and the action of “rape” has been seen as sort of a taboo for many generations throughout the army. So many questions about gender and violence came to my mind after reading the article. One being, why must woman be afraid of losing their occupation for speaking of a vicious violent act on them?

Rape, is such a violent act, which can both physically and psychologically ruin a woman forever. How can these military men shun someone who has no control over what was done to her? The ethics of the case I feel would be found in a country without a justice system. Certain measures need to be changed In order for this order to prevent this type of desensitizing behavior In the military and throughout male driven occupations. Often both abuse and violent behaviors are Internalized at a young age and further exemplified In the person’s adulthood.

For example, Byron Hurts mentioned In his article how stunned he was about learning the lengths that women do to protect themselves from sexual assault; and how it really evoked him to think ND want to learn about gender. After learning about the female gender issues of violence, I felt he begun to learn what respect a woman really meaner. It is interesting how him choosing to educate himself about violence and gender had a more powerful effect on him than seeing the emotional effects of verbal abuse as a child.

He even mentioned how he had a special bond with his mother and seeing her emotional pain did not change his mannerisms and understanding of the proper way to treat a woman. Education may be the most powerful tool in order to prevent violent gender behaviors amongst men towards woman In the military. Many Individuals that enter the military do not have a college education which may have exposed them with some kind of background from a course about violence against women.

Being said, some of these men may have grown up in an environment where abuse against a woman was okay and therefore will further exemplify the learned mannerism in the military. Education and creating programs in order to prevent these violent actions are important to erase the macho like mentality found in the military and will help men to understand that it is unacceptable to exhibit such violence against any woman. Reading the articles also made me want to wink further about some personal instances in which female family or friends have kept quiet about unwanted male behavior In the workplace.

An event that came to mind was how my sister said she always tries to avoid the copy room at work because the last time she went In there a random man asked her out on a date. It Is Interesting how that small level of male Inappropriateness made my sister forever want to avoid the copy room. Comparing this to the violence against the women in the military is nothing, I can only imagine Just now terrible these woman tell trot all the negativity of an unpreventable violent act against their body.