Link to: Congress to Consider Whether Women Should Serve on Submarines

Women On Submarines
By: Michael Belden

I read with interest, the pentagons lifting the ban on women in submarines. While I am sure there are many women out there that might be able to survive extended periods of time underwater (without seeing the sun for a tan, not being able to stroll through the park with their kids, not being able to see or talk to their kids for months, not getting claustrophobic, not getting to take a shower and/or wash their hair every day, and not being able to keep their mouths shut for any length of time) I have not yet met one.
I know I’m probably going to sound chauvinistic through this writing, but I have read the book “Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars”, and it is very true. The sexes are very different in more than just a physical appearance. The thought processes are completely different which makes for possible mistakes during some pretty critical times. While men tend to bond in war and combat situations and can anticipate what their buddy’s next move is, women are not quite that adapt. We just don’t think alike. Men tend to “act now” while women “need to think about it for awhile”.

And then there is just the problem of space.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

As one can see, the berthing space is very open. There is no privacy. I don’t think I need to explain the potential problems with that. Now I know the Navy is thinking about this with officers first. However, even in the sub I was on, even the officers shared space. Only the CO and XO had their own private quarters. All the rest of the officers had to share. And on this newest Virginia class sub, there are 14 officers. That’s at least 12 officers that are going to share spaces with each other.
But I think that the most important problem these sailors will face is morale. Those men who are married are going to have a time trying to convince their wives nothing is going on – especially when they are away for months at a time. Same with married Waves. And the single sailors are really going to be hard pressed to keep their hands to themselves. With tight quarters, shipmates are always rubbing against each other – just to get through the passageways. The comradely of slapstick jokes and punches will not go well with the feminine gender. I have yet to meet a woman that likes to be punched on the shoulder or swatted on the butt or pinched on the nipple. They’ll have to get used to it. (Maybe not the officers, but one day the non-coms will.) When I was in, the waves did not like arbitrarily being touched. Only during romantic involvement did they allow handholding or more. I don’t see that having changed over the years.
All in all, I just see this as a big potential problem. Men tend to protect women when they are around without expecting women to help. Buddies work together for the cause of the “all”. Women are going to be a big distraction for many of the sailors. While they need to be focused on their respective jobs, they’re going to have this distraction constantly around them.
And then there’s this other issue. Women are constantly trying to infiltrate and dominate the man’s world. (I haven’t seen men trying to infiltrate or dominate the women’s world.) Submarines are one of the last refuges man has. Because of so-called “equal rights” men can’t even have their own men’s club anymore. Boy Scouts are being sued because little Susie wants to be a Boy Scout. Never mind she could be a Girl Scout. I’m still not comfortable with women running the world. I shudder every time I think of Hillary and Nancy. I sure wouldn’t want either of them in my submarine!
I really think the pentagon needs to rethink this. Women and submarines just don’t mix.

Michael Belden