Breeding soldiers & servants

I have had this thought for some time now, and wanted to get some opinions of others on it.

It seems that the USA, along with several other militaristic nations have a culture of raising boys to serve in a soldier type role, and girls to serve in a servant type role.

We give boys fake guns and toy swords to fight one another with, building a sense of aggressive competition within them. We encourage boys to suppress their emotions, and tell them to "toughen up" if they are displaying signs of emotional distress. Unlike their female counterparts in the USA, all boys are required to register with the nations selective service system when they reach the age of 18; at which time the government deems them sufficiently developed and capable of combat status. Boy's are not generally encouraged to marry, and are often congratulated for having a long history of intimacy with numerous women.

Girls are given dolls to play with and fake babies to "mother". They are discouraged from engaging in sports and activities which are more commonly sought after by their male counterparts, and are instead encouraged to pursue more servant type activities such as cheer leading for male dominated activities, or pursing beautification. Girls are generally encouraged to marry and bear multiple children into service for the system, with a preference on males. Girls are discouraged from having a long history of intimacy with numerous men, and are labeled as whores and sluts among other derogatory terms should they have such a history.

Boys who exhibit an excess of feminine characteristics or behaviors are ridiculed and picked on by their more masculine, militaristic peers; being labeled as wusses or sissies for not living up to the child soldier expectation set forth by the militaristic culture in which they live.

Girls who exhibit an excessive of masculine characteristics or behaviors are ridiculed and picked on by their more feminine, complacent peers; being labeled as butch tomboys for not living up to the servant breeder expectation set forth by the culture in which they live which expects women to serve men.

The USA is not the only nation which raises children in a system such as this, as African nations, North Korea, Russia, and some middle eastern nations also have similar cultures.

There are multiple dangers in having such a culture.

I was raised in a family that valued boys more than girls. They were given the tough, masculine chores, which the girls were either not allowed to do, or were discouraged from doing. Pushups and other physical activity were used as forms of discipline for the boys of my family in order to strengthen the body while hardening the character, with the punishment becoming even more severe if the child in question was unable to complete the assigned task. Boys were spanked for severe misbehavior, girls were not. Boys were encouraged to engage in masculine sports and activities, and girls were encouraged to pursue more feminine ones. I was raised to address my father as "sir", and answer "Yes sir" or "No sir" when answering a question he asked me.

When I began to attend school, I quickly learned to develop a tough skin and show no signs of compassion or emotion, as boys who did so were chosen as targets for bullying and were labeled as pussies, wimps, and faggots. I was instructed on how to fight in different forms in several grades as a required part of the boys gym curriculum, girls went through a different course on dance and acrobatics at the time boys were learning wrestling, boxing, and Maui-Thai.

When I excited school, I had been conditioned in such a manner that I was filled with anger, hatred, and aggression. I had a well developed physique from long programs of weight lifting and combat sports assigned as part of my continuous development in the schools fitness program. I had been trained how to fight, and been physically conditioned to be able to.

So, when it came my time to enter the military, you can imagine my surprise to find out I could not join, because despite my upbringing that had conditioned me physically and mentally to do so, my diagnosis of mental illness prevented me from enlisting.

So what our society now has is someone with a desire to kill, the knowledge of how to do so, and the physical conditioning to be able to do it. On top of that, there are many others like myself with this same state, who end up becoming murderers and criminals because they are not capable of dealing with the conditioning they were brought into while growing up outside of an environment designed to let them be what they were bred and raised to be - soldiers.

I dunno, maybe that's the general experience for a lot of people, but it wasn't mine. I had an uncle who lived with us when I was young who was an ex marine, and he treated all of us the same. He had no qualms about making my sister and I do push ups right alongside my brother and we weren't allowed to do them "girlie" style either. We were never treated differently in respect to our gender by my parents or my uncle. My being the oldest usually got me a lot more crap than my siblings, though.

I can only give you my perspective as a female who grew up in the US (and also joined the military lol)

I grew up with two siblings for most of my young life (We have a total of five of us now) but my sister and I wern't treated much different than my brother that I could remember. Most of the time all three of us would get into trouble and my parents would line us up against the wall and spank us.

In play, I was given barbies, dolls, horses, stuffed animals, and dinosaurs. I still love my stuffed animals (I have two who go with me around the world) the dolls were left on a shelf, the horses had their own world, and the barbies were fed to the dinosaurs I honestly didn't understand why people gave my sister and I barbies. We loved the animal toys though!

Church was the first and biggest place I saw a difference. I grew up in the New Apostolic church which you can find across the world. And across all of the churches, you will find that every Priest on up to the Chief Apostille across the history of the church, is male. Every single one of them. Females clean the church, we can be Sunday School Teachers, and we could be Choir Directors, but that's the most 'rank' we could hold. So I settled myself in to be unimportant in the church.

I was always outcast and ridiculed through school. When I was younger, I don't know why. In High School, it's probably because I had no interest in short skirts, or low tops. I had very few friends, but at least they were true friends. I was more interested in PLAYING sports than watching or rooting. I didn't yearn after the 'cute' guys or the 'popular' ones. I was more interested in the PERSON than their face or 'rank'. I've never been one to conform to what I didn't believe in I guess In PT we always did the same thing the males were doing.

I was never dissuaded from joining the military. I WAS dissuaded from joining the ARMY. (My parents were naturally worried but when they calmed down they were ok.) I've never felt different than the males in 90% of the cases. We're held to a different PT standard but that's only because we are physically built differently than the males. Our standards are JUST as difficult for us, as the males are for them. And there are a few locations that females are banned due to either lodging requirements or field issues. And I don't mean that we're kept out of combat, but rather for things like SpecOps a female is held to the same standards as the rest of the team due to their very common life-or-death situations. Or in subs, or FOBs where there isn't room to have separate facilities for females.

I'm apart of the Communications Squadron. As my AFSC, I am responsible for programing, installing, and maintaining the switches, routers, and TACLANES for the base's four classified and unclassified networks. In the nearly nine years I've been at this station, I have worked with three other females in my shop. It's a highly technical job that either females are not typically interested in or could maybe be dissuaded from. I am not held to a different standard than the males. I DO have to ask for help when hauling around the series 3000UPS for long. (they weigh a LOT. BIG battery!)

We have a Squadron of about 100 people, and only about 11 females (including the civilians) BUT we're the Comm squadron. If you look at the Med Group, and Forces Support Squadron, they'll have a lot more.

I've talked to the Army guys, many of them love what they do. I don't understand it, but they LOVE being in that foxhole. I love sitting behind my desk in my air conditioning and controlling the world that be in my network.

I can't change culture. I can simply do what I do and try to influence people to follow their own path. And in doing that, slowly, one can change the culture over time.

A great example of this dichotomy in the U.S. is the Boy Scouts versus the Girl Scouts.

As a Boy Scout, I was taught to use firearms, knives, and axes. I was taught to survive in the wilderness with little more than the clothes on my back. I can start fires without as much as a couple sticks. I received extensive first aid training including CPR and Lifeguard certifications. Our activities included rock climbing, backpacking, canoeing, and riding horseback.

When I earned the rank of Eagle Scout, I was recognized by a number of government officials including the President and Vice President of the Unites States. I was immediately recruited by every branch of the U.S. military. Despite the fact that I chose to go to college instead, I was still recruited heavily and told that I was "wasting my talents". I had been groomed for service.

The Girl Scouts, on the other hand, are a marketing machine for cookies. The majority of their time is spent fundraising in front of grocery stores. They are encouraged to earn badges for arts and crafts and intellectual pursuits. While some troops have decided to follow the example of the Boy Scout program, most are content teaching girls recipes for S'mores.

I'm not saying the Boy Scouts are better. I'm just observing a difference. I don't believe the stereotypes about gender roles are as bad as they used to be, but we have a long way to go in my opinion.

steamboat28 wrote:

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<unpopular opinion>

Warning: Spoiler!

There are reasons for that, y'know. Reasons that stretch back to the advent of sexual dimorphism in what would later become the human race. Evolution and junk.

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</unpopular opinion>

I get that steamboat, really I do. I even have some degree of respect and understanding for the past necessity of gender roles and the differences in which boys and girls were brought up.

The issue I have is when a culture raises their young to fulfill a particular function, won't let them fulfill that function, and then blames them for the adverse consequences of conditioning them for something and then putting them in a situation that calls for different conditioning.

It's like conditioning a dog to become a prized fighter, and then putting it into a situation where it is expected to be a loving family pet. Sooner or later, the dog's conditioning as a killer is going to result in a family member being hurt, maimed, or killed.

Kohadra wrote: The issue I have is when a culture raises their young to fulfill a particular function, won't let them fulfill that function, and then blames them for the adverse consequences of conditioning them for something and then putting them in a situation that calls for different conditioning.

Okay, now you've got my attention, because this is part of one of my major, constant rants about the "civilization" of modern society, and how it restrains our instincts/conditioning/training/urges to the point of giving us no healthy outlet, which results in very unhealthy actions.

The issue I see...

The issue is when we as individuals not only blindly believe what we have been taught without questioning it but identify ourselves as that thing instead of walking our own path and discovering who is inside us screaming to get out.

I can choose to blame society and everyone in my past for everything I see wrong or I can choose to break the cycle, start a new path and create a better future for all that follow.

I am NOT the sum of all that others label me as, call me, “taught me”, and assume me to be or think I am! I am me. I have always been me. I will always be me. And it is up to me to be the best me that I can be. Whether that means I have issues to deal with or I am completely happy the way I am.

If there are any questions to be asked, we should start with… why do I continue to believe and identify with what I feel not to be the right? Why do I look externally to fix what can only be dealt with internally?

Wescli Wardest wrote: I can choose to blame society and everyone in my past for everything I see wrong or I can choose to break the cycle, start a new path and create a better future for all that follow.

But isn't the true path the path of balance between these options? The society limits our ability to be ourselves in so many ways that, ultimately, it is difficult to strike out on one's own without eventually coming to fight the system to be allowed to continue to be what we are.

steamboat28 wrote:

Wescli Wardest wrote: I can choose to blame society and everyone in my past for everything I see wrong or I can choose to break the cycle, start a new path and create a better future for all that follow.

But isn't the true path the path of balance between these options? The society limits our ability to be ourselves in so many ways that, ultimately, it is difficult to strike out on one's own without eventually coming to fight the system to be allowed to continue to be what we are.

On top of that, the majority of our instruction growing up is being told what to think, not how to think.