A case of political correctness down under
An Australian navy submarine skipper who suggested female sailors wear bikinis to help reverse a recruitment crisis has been criticised by lawmakers but supported by superiors, local media said on Thursday.Commander Tom Phillips must not be aware of this Australian navy policy-Commander Tom Phillips, appointed to the Australian navy's HMAS Farncomb last year, also joked in a men's magazine interview that the submariner equivalent of the notorious "mile-high club" for people having sex in aircraft was the "going down club."
Asked by Ralph magazine "if female sailors all had to be hot and had to wear bikinis, would that help recruitment?," Phillips responded: "It would certainly get the right demographic of young men in. I'm not sure how feasible it is, however."
Australia's opposition Labor Party has questioned the need for female sailors to be given breast enlargements paid for with public money.I guess in case a ship sinks there wasn't enough flotation devices around. Stomach in, chest out, has an entirely different meaning in the Australian military.An armed forces spokesman defended the operations, saying they were carried out for psychological reasons, not to make sailors "look sexy".
Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said the "holistic needs" of service personnel were considered under defence policy.
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Comments (7)
I wonder if "openly" gay so... (Below threshold)1. Posted by MPR | January 16, 2009 10:38 AM | Score: 0 (2 votes cast)
I wonder if "openly" gay soldiers in our military would have the same effect?
1. Posted by MPR | January 16, 2009 10:38 AM |
Score: 0 (2 votes cast)
Posted on January 16, 2009 10:38
2. Posted by bobdog | January 16, 2009 11:52 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
We're about to find out.
2. Posted by bobdog | January 16, 2009 11:52 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 16, 2009 11:52
3. Posted by Synova | January 16, 2009 1:59 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
To perversely defend the boob jobs...
I know that the US military has provided nose jobs in the past just to keep the surgeons in practice for when it becomes necessary to do reconstructive plastic surgery. (Like now.) The military surgeons have to keep their skills up and the particular demographic that they serve is generally young and in good health.
Also, in both cases, nose or boob jobs, a certain element of appearance may be an issue. The military (and probably the Oz military as well) wants those in uniform to look good and individually represent the corporate whole in a positive way. I know people who've gotten kicked out for being fat and have heard of at least one person kicked out for not bathing.
3. Posted by Synova | January 16, 2009 1:59 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 16, 2009 13:59
4. Posted by Marc | January 16, 2009 4:44 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Synove, not just nose jobs. As of four years ago (not sure if they still do) the U.S. Army provided free "enhancements."
Mario Moncada, an Army private who was recently treated for losing the vision in one eye in Iraq, said that he knows several female soldiers who have received free breast enlargements: "We're out there risking our lives. We deserve benefits like that."4. Posted by Marc | January 16, 2009 4:44 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on January 16, 2009 16:44
5. Posted by Geoffrey Britain | January 16, 2009 5:06 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
If breast enlargements are 'necessary' for psychological self-esteem reasons, then why not penile 'enhancements'? To deny males the same benefit would be clearly discriminatory.
OR, we could just end this waste of taxpayer money...
How in the hell did things ever get this screwed up?
Has PC completely replaced common sense?
5. Posted by Geoffrey Britain | January 16, 2009 5:06 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on January 16, 2009 17:06
6. Posted by Marc | January 16, 2009 5:09 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
"Has PC completely replaced common sense?"
That is a rhetorical question, right?
6. Posted by Marc | January 16, 2009 5:09 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on January 16, 2009 17:09
7. Posted by James | January 20, 2009 12:38 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Of course, breast enhancement can be considered in the same practice-for-reconstruction category as nose jobs. Anyone know how many women get mastectomies annually at VA hospitals?
7. Posted by James | January 20, 2009 12:38 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 20, 2009 00:38