Military

Mjolnir On Military Headstones

Brianne Bilyeu, , , , , 1,779 Comments

Huh. On the way home from work I learned that a) there are only certain symbols that are approved to be etched on the tombstones of soldiers killed in the line of duty (which applies, I would assume, only if the solider wants to be be buried with a government headstone), b) that Mjolnir is one of these approved “emblems of belief” and c) that there are symbols for atheists and humanists on the list.

Here’s the link from PRI’s The World if you want to listen to the story:

While I was doing some digging for this post, I learned that Americans United for Separation of Church and State played a part in gaining equal religious representation on government headstones, and participated in the fight to allow a Wiccan pentacle to be placed on the gravestone of Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart, a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

Mjolnir On Military Headstones
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Breastfeeding Military Mamas

Brianne Bilyeu, , , 378 Comments

I saw this story on Facebook a few days ago and it’s still with me. Women breastfeeding in public should not be controversial. It should not be! If a woman is comfortable feeding her child in public (and I find it really aggravating that she has probably grown up in a society that makes it so that there’s a good chance that she won’t feel comfortable doing so), she should. Why should she go out of her way to feed her child just to make someone else feel more comfortable? The only argument against breastfeeding in public that I can think of is that…boobs. Naked boobs in public. Ewwwww.

Fuuuuuuuuu!

And oh dear FSM – if she’s wearing her military uniform while she does it!!! Who do these women think they are? Do they want to be soldiers or do they want to be mommies??? How dare they defile military uniforms by suckling their children! Don’t they know that…boobs? Naked boobs in public???

ZOMG BOOBS! AND UNIFORMS! AND BABIES ON THE BOOBS! Somebody, quick – call the National Guard! Wait – what do you mean “they are the National Guard?” Photo Source is Yahoo! Shine

From Yahoo! Shine:

“People are comparing breastfeeding in uniform to urinating and defecating in uniform. They’re comparing it to the woman who posed in “Playboy” in uniform [in 2007]” Scott told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. “We never expected it to be like this.”

…

“I have breastfed in our lobby, in my car, in the park … and I pump, usually in the locker room,” she told the “Today” show, adding that she usually nurses her babies while on her lunch break during drill weekends. “I’m proud to be wearing a uniform while breast-feeding. I’m proud of the photo and I hope it encourages other women to know they can breastfeed whether they’re active duty, guard or civilian.”

Good for her.

This is post 24 of 49 in the SSAweek Biodork Blogathon. Donate to the SSA today! Read more about my reader challenges here.

Breastfeeding Military Mamas

Dinkus Award: Liz Trotta

Brianne Bilyeu, , 623 Comments

This made me see red. I haven’t seen such an egregious, obvious, reprehensible case of victim-blaming on a major news program in a while.

Liz Trotta says that if women want to serve in the military they should expect to get raped. She says that the increasing incidence of sexual assault is just a case of feminists wanting to be both warriors and victims. She says that we’re wasting our tax money paying for sexual assault and rape prevention services. She says that we don’t need to protect our military personnel because it’s their job to protect us, not the other way around.

This is so twisted, so vile. Trashing the military or the troops seems like such a politically incorrect thing to do, but I guess trashing women trumps the “supporting our troops” sentiment. This whole piece is “She was asking for it”.  I don’t know how this woman sleeps at night.

Dinkus Award: Liz Trotta