Can Men and Women in the Navy Get Along Together on Submarines?

The United States Navy recently made the decision to allow women to serve active duty on submarines with men. Naturally, this idea has some people concerned, especially the wives of the sailors on board the submarine. Ever since women have been allowed to take part in the military, however, there have been sexual harassment allegations along the lines of "He said" and "She said." Considering the fact that not all men and women can work along side of each other without their hormones getting in the way, did the Navy make a wise decision?

It can be argued that women initially wanted to join the military not on equal rights grounds, but rather to find a husband, the one they did not find in high school. It was not that long ago when women got married right out of high school and had children, so that they were at home raising the babies while the husband went off to work. Women in the military have it tough, to be sure, having to deal with remarks that could be perceived as snide and sexist, even though it is not at all unusual for men to act that way towards women when they are in a group together. While this cannot be called "mob mentality", it is simply natural in males since they tend to be more clannish than women, who tend to be individualistic, and do not stick together as much as men do. Men in the military feel as if this is an invasion of their territory, and rightly so: after all, whoever heard of women going on a submarine with men for combat duty? Men and women can work together in the office without their minds straying to affairs with each for the most part (though at least one affair is bound to happen regardless of the company name), and crushes have gone on before in the military (a woman spurned can wind up in a sex harassment case, but not always; it is just something that can potentially happen). Pregnancies can also occur on the submarine while it is underwater, which would not be good for the sailor, woman, or the doctor, not to mention the navy. It would be difficult for a pregnant woman to get proper care, then there is the problem of harassment by other officers just for being pregnant.

No, this idea just does not fly well with me, even though I am all for women having the same rights to careers and what not. What I am not in favor of is women wanting to gain access to parts of the military that can deter the men from doing their job, since they have no time for hanky-panky on board. As a woman, I would feel extremely uncomfortable being in the presence of men while under the ocean in a submarine. Even if one women soldier is caught talking to a male soldier, this can be misconstrued as an affair going on. Compound that with the lack of privacy on a submarine, and voila, tongues start wagging. As they say in the Navy, "Loose lips sink ships." Maybe it is best the United States Navy reconsider their decision so that further trouble for our soldiers does not arise on the subs. If women want to be in the Navy, they can do the administrative side of the job, and let the men do all of the hard work on submarines.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_re_us/us_women_on_submarines

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/17/us/sex-harassment-called-rife-in-pacific-military.html?pagewanted=all