Women's Rights
... The key to advancement in the armed services is through combat time served. O’Neill wanted to sign up for combat training on a submarine, but she was unable to because of her sex. They made it seem like it’s her fault that she’s female. They told her they were unable to provide separate quarters for her on the submarine. This clearly is discrimination. This discrimination is however, brilliantly setup by the powerful men at the top. Combat experience is tied to advancement, and women are not allowed to sign up for combat training, because facilities are not available to accommodate them. Author Lani Guinier says that, “…even when rules are perfectly fair in form, they serve in practice to exclude particular groups from meaningful participation. When they do not encourage everyone to play…they seem unfair,” (Guinier, 1994). This puts the onus off of the men, and makes it seem like the lack of separate quarters is to blame. Then if a woman challenges a situation such as this one, they would most likely talk about the expense of providing separate quarters. Then other men in the service would complain that the spoiled women are costing the armed forces unnecessary money. Similar scenarios like this one have played out throughout our history. The senator plays the role of political villain. At first it appears that she is working hard for the advancement of women, but really she is using Lieutenant O’Neill as a pawn for political leverage. The senator does not want O’Neill to finish the Seal training; she does not really believe she could do it anyway. The senator wants to make the Navy nervous enough about the possibility that O’Neill might actually succeed; and the armed forces will have to be integrated. If this happens then women would take up many of the positions that men traditionally hold. This is also an election year, and the government is threatening to shut down many army bases. The senator is doing this scheme, so that she can negotiate with the government. The negotiation will be, in exchange for O’Neill to quit, no bases in her state will shut down. That way she could win lots of votes, because people would be happy that all of the bases will remain open. This is a classic example of how a female can work against her own cause. When O’Neill arrives on the base, she is confronted by men who feel threatened by her presence. The Seal program is the armed forces most difficult program, which has a dropout rate of 30%. The commander of the base is upset by her mere presence. An excerpt from the book Privilege, Power, and Difference explains that, “The greater resistance toward the path of mentoring across difference may be a result from something as subtle as feeling “uncomfortable” in the other person’s presence,” (Johnson, 2001). Even though the commander believes that there is no way she could possibly succeed, he is still bothered by her. Some of her peers make sexual remarks to, others ignore her, and one is sympathetic to her cause. You can tell that some of the men are not bothered by her presence, but it’s easier to go along with the others in the group. Author Allan B. Johnson explains that people go along with the group, because it’s easier than being ostracized, (Johnson, 2001). Ironically the man who is sympathetic to her is a black man. He understands her position, because he has also felt the sting of discrimination. The black man tries to reassure her by saying, “You’re just the new nigger on the block,” (Scott, 1997). During her training some of her fellow teammates try to sabotage her success. Author Faludi explains that, “When men feel threatened…“Especially men grappling with real threats to their economic and social well being on other fronts—as spelling their own masculine doom,” (Faludi, 1980). During one training exercise she is the leader of the mission, and some of her teammates refuse to take orders from her. Author Allan B. Johnson explains that when you live in a society that is dominated by men power will look natural on them, and on the other hand it will look unnatural on women, (Johnson, 2001). They make comments about her sense of direction, and her leadership choices. The men who did not listen to her command have caused the entire team to be captured. Throughout the movie O’Neill has told the commander chief that she does not want special privileges, she wants to be treated like all of the other men. So when she is captured he violently beats her up, to get her to quit. He went overboard with his violent attack, and many of the men are disgusted by his behavior. Studies of male violence show that control is a core issue, (Johnson, 2001). She held tough through the beating, and gained the respect of her fellow soldiers. The Commander Chief believes that a female’s presence will make men weaker. He says that some men have a problem with violence against women. At one point during the movie a soldier acknowledges that, “She’s not the problem, we are,” (Scott, 1997). As time goes by the senator begins to get nervous, because O’Neill has outlasted many of the men. It looks like she may finish the training after all. The senator then decides that she will have to take matters in her own hands to stop O’Neill from succeeding. Author Allan B. Johnson explains why women are also threatened by other women, “For women to have power in relation to men also makes wo...