Change Is Difficult---But It Does Happen

There's been a lot of news lately about sexual harassment of women in the Canadian Armed Force. 

I suspect people have lots of ideas about this---one way or another. I've never been in the military, and I'm certainly not a woman. But I think it's important for people of good will to raise issues about problems even if they don't directly affect us. This helps give them more visibility while at the same time taking some of the pressure off those who have had this happen to them.

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I like to watch old movies and television shows because the give me a chance to see how much society has changed over the years---and in a way that isn't "filtered" and "processed" by commentators pushing some sort of agenda. This isn't because they were trying to expose problems in their society but rather because they tend to show what people were oblivious to in times past. 

You Tube helps with this because people often put up old television shows that have no copyright concerns anymore. Lately I've been watching one about submarines called The Silent Service. Generally there isn't much to say other than I never, ever want to be stuck on a submarine during a war. But one episode had a couple scenes in it that just about had my eyeballs pop out of my head. I'll let readers take a look at them to see what I'm talking about.

(If people have a tendency to be triggered by sexism---especially if have been assaulted themselves---you should be warned that this clip can be disturbing. My significant other, who is a veteran who served in the Missouri National Guard during the First Gulf War, was so disturbed when she saw it that she couldn't finish watching.)

Take a moment to think about what is shown in the above clip. The woman (who only is identified as "Nanny") isn't identified as such, but I can only assume is an enlisted person in the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service, or, WRANS. She is performing an important service. She is in uniform (or the studio wardrobe's vague attempt at creating one.) The men harassing her are officers, in their uniforms, and, their commander (ie: the submarine captain) is watching all this take place.

The behaviour seems almost designed to destroy morale among allied enlisted troops and undermine the discipline of the navy! Don't think that this incident is just something a writer dreamed up, though. The US navy was up to their eyeballs supporting this show. Each episode was introduced by a retired admiral. And almost every episode had a epilogue where someone key to the incident was brought on---often in full uniform---to talk about it. Moreover, the producers not only were given access to wartime footage, they were also given access to an active duty navy submarine to shoot new footage. On some level, therefore, the behaviour modelled in the clips was considered "OK" by the Navy brass. 

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Lets really think about what is happening in these two scenes. 

First, "Nanny" was physically grabbed by these young men. Secondly, she makes it very, very obvious that she doesn't want them to do it---but they continue anyway. Moreover, she specifically appeals to their commanding officer to force them to stop, but he doesn't. When she complains, she is told "It's just a joke. Where's your sense of humour?" and about her and all the other women personnel "They love it and you know it." 

Secondly, as officers these idiots are "modelling" behaviour to the lower ranks. They are expected to "set an example", but the one that they are setting says that it's OK to abuse fellow service people if they are women. The problem is that people who don't know much better will see this and figure "it's all OK". And when that happens things will escalate as people push the envelope farther and farther. Eventually someone will get raped. Even if this didn't happen (and don't kid yourself---it probably did), the women got the message loud and clear that they are second-class service people and that they simply could not trust their comrades or superiors. 

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Justice Louis Arbour

We have come a long way since The Silent Service aired, but we still have a long way to go. Today, no one would simply write, shoot, and, air scenes like the ones I've included above. And that is progress. As Francois de la Rochefoucauld said "Hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue". We've gone past the point where the military couldn't even see how anyone would think it is wrong to assault women, but they still don't want to do much about it. 

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Justice Marie Deschamps

I toyed with speculating about why it is that the military (and the police, for that matter) have such a hard time treating women like equals. I have some suspicions, but the government has announced that retired Justice Louise Arbour will be making an inquiry. I'll let her do that job. Let's hope the result doesn't end up stuck on a shelf gathering dust like the report retired Justice Marie Deschamps wrote six years ago.

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Moreover I say unto you, the Climate Emergency must be dealt with!