Everyone knows Facebook’s incredibly fucked up policies concerning nudity, and it looks like they’ve dropped the ball yet again. Since 2015, Marines have been uploading illicit images of fellow Marines who happen to be women, inviting all manner of commentary, and it’s not pretty. I do realize all the fallout here doesn’t belong on FB, but a share of it does. As for the rest, Jesus Fuck, the military, what an unbelievable mess it is.
The U.S. Department of Defense is investigating hundreds of Marines who used social media to solicit and share hundreds — possibly thousands — of naked photographs of women service members and veterans.
Since Jan. 30, more than two dozen women – many on active duty, including officers and enlisted service members – have been identified by their rank, full name and military duty station in photographs posted and linked to from a private Facebook page.
In one instance, a woman corporal in uniform was followed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina by a fellow Marine, who surreptitiously photographed her as she picked up her gear. Those photographs were posted online in the Facebook group “Marines United,” which has nearly 30,000 followers, drawing dozens of obscene comments.
One member of the Facebook group suggested the service member sneaking the photos should “take her out back and pound her out.” Others suggested more than vaginal sex. “And butthole. And throat. And ears. Both of them. Video it though… for science.”
Senior officials with Headquarters Marine Corps have verified that incident as well as the distribution of photographs of other active duty and veteran women through the page and links out to a Google Drive.
The photo sharing began less than a month after the first Marine infantry unit was assigned women on Jan. 5 and underscores ongoing problems of sexual harassment within the military ranks and could hurt recruitment of women. Officials within the Defense Department confirmed it also puts service members at risk for blackmail and jeopardizes national security.
The activity on the Marines United page was uncovered by The War Horse, a nonprofit news organization run by Marine veteran Thomas Brennan. Within a day of Brennan contacting the Marine Corps headquarters on Jan. 30, social media accounts behind the sharing had been deleted by Facebook and Google at the Corps’ request and a formal investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has been launched.
However, it is clear that the actions taken so far have not fully stopped the activity: photos of the woman followed at Camp Lejeune were posted on Marines United on Feb. 16, more than two weeks after the linking accounts had been shut down. The Marine who shot those photos has been discharged from active duty, Marine Corps officials confirmed.
“We need to be brutally honest with ourselves and each other: This behavior hurts fellow Marines, family members, and civilians. It is a direct attack on our ethos and legacy,” Sgt. Major Ronald L. Green, the most senior enlisted Marine on active duty wrote in an email response. “It is inconsistent with our core values, and it impedes our ability to perform our mission.
The service is deeply concerned about the damage the incident could do to the Marines, according to a document provided to generals yesterday warning them of the upcoming story.
Yes, I imagine they are deeply concerned, but as usual, they are not at all concerned with the right things. Perhaps a bit less focus on creating killing machines, and a bit more on being a decent human being, for fuck’s sake. Apparently, a good many of your recruits need to be taught that either being a rapist or encouraging rape is wrong.
…The War Horse submitted multiple requests for additional comment to the Secretary of Defense and Commandant of the Marine Corps. Both declined to comment on specifics of the situation, citing the ongoing investigation.
However, in his email, Green added additional perspective, repeatedly denouncing the “degrading and demeaning behavior” of Marines United members and encouraging Marines — and all service members — to be “a voice of change” for the better.
“As Marines, as human beings, you should be angry by the actions of a few,” Green wrote. “Ultimately we must take a look in the mirror and decide whether we are part of the problem or the solution.
“…We need to realize that silence is consent — do not be silent.”
Yes, it would be nice to see the military address the rampant rape culture infesting it, but it seems all that happens every time there’s an inconvenient spotlight on such behaviour, is lip service. Time to step up, don’t you think? What happened to the standard you walk past is the standard you accept?
The full story is here, and much worse than the excerpts included here.
The Lance Corporal I know reports that he’s attended 40+ hours of sexual harassment and consent classes, and the barracks are plastered with hotline numbers and notices about consent and harassment. The rules are everywhere, all the time. Same thing with alcohol consumption and dangerous driving. Nevertheless, he says that many of his fellow Marines just aren’t that bright or mature, so they chronically drink and drive, harass and fight everyone, and generally self-destruct. The brass really see it as a clear and present danger -- apparently, they lost more Marines to car accidents than combat last year.
Perhaps they should be a bit more picky when it comes to recruiting cannon fodder.
Well, their commander in chief is certainly setting a good example.
What happened to the standard you walk past is the standard you accept?
That was the Australian military. The US military are mostly a bunch of imperial thugs; they’ll accept any standard because they’re down to using artillery on civilians, just like they did in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Senior officials with Headquarters Marine Corps have verified that incident as well as the distribution of photographs of other active duty and veteran women through the page and links out to a Google Drive.
I’m sure the FBI is busy with more important stuff, like looking for deleted emails on Hillary Clinton’s private server but if they do decide to issue any subpoenas, google and Facebook keep all that information in perpetuity. Not that the USMC is going to do anything (a few good men are hard to find!) but if they wanted to, it’d be ridiculously easy to trace the transfer and origin of all the pictures and comments.
I see they still don’t make Marines very smart.
Probably a cultural issue about the attitudes held by those wanting to serve in the military -- toxic masculinity at its best(worst), and no desire from the higher ranks to change the general atmosphere. Signs and hotline numbers will do very little if the general culture looks down on those things as unnecessary, bothersome and completely beneath their dignity.