Combat training strips you of your self-image so you can be rebuilt to fit the Army mold.
Bruce Gilkin, Vietnam Veteran21
When every man in the armed services is required to enter combat upon command and every woman either has the option of combat or is protected from combat, we produce two distinct mentalities. Combat training requires the men to devalue their lives, training for technical jobs that can be used in civilian life is compatible with valuing one’s life. The result?
Harassment and hazing are preparation for devaluation — which is why men haze and harass one another: they are amputating each other’s individual ity because the war machine works best with standardized parts Harassment and hazing are therefore a prerequisite to combat training in the "men’s army”, but in the “women’s army," harassment and hazing can be protested — they conflict with valuing one’s life.
If the men’s and women’s armies were physically separate, these differences would be less of a problem. However, when the men are told that the women are equals but if they harass and haze the women as equals they’ll have their careers ruined (and often family life destroyed), this only reinforces the men’s belief that women want to have their cake and eat it, too.