July 3, 2021

"Ukrainian authorities have found themselves buried in controversy after official pictures showed female soldiers practising for a parade in heels."

"Ukraine is preparing to stage a military parade next month to mark 30 years of independence following the Soviet Union’s breakup, and the defence ministry on Friday released photographs of fatigue-clad women soldiers marching in mid-heel black pumps.... 'It is hard to imagine a more idiotic, harmful idea'...."

The Guardian reports.

Posted by Ann Althouse at 2:09 PM
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5 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

Ken writes:

"I could understand heels with a dress uniform. Men wear dress highy polished or patent leather oxfords with dress uniforms. It is the combo of heels with battle fatigues that makes them look like something out of Monty Python."

7/3/21, 6:57 PM
Ann Althouse said...

policraticus writes:

If the idea is for the female service members to parade in camo fatigues with heels, then I agree with all the critics. That would be a ridiculous and demeaning display.

However, isn't it more likely that the soldiers are just practicing in fatigues but will parade in whatever passes for Ukrainian "full dress?" In the US Army female soldiers wear knee length dresses and some kind of flat pump. If the Ukrainians have a similar uniform, a practical heel would be perfectly ordinary, and would require some adjustment for parading in. If the idea is that every soldier should be parading in field dress, well... that's just a matter of aesthetics. If the men were all going to be wearing battle fatigues and only the women all in "dress blues," I think I'd take their point. All one way, or all the other. That is why it is called a uni-form.

Far be it from me to cast cold water on the white hot anger of outraged Ukrainian feminists, just trying to add a little sense to their sensibility.

7/3/21, 6:59 PM
Ann Althouse said...

Bob Boyd qutoes " 'It is hard to imagine a more idiotic, harmful idea'...." and says: "No it isn't. We're living in a golden age of idiotic, harmful ideas."

7/4/21, 4:17 AM
Ann Althouse said...

Assistant Village Idiot writes:

Spears might indeed be ready to be out of conservatorship. Thirteen years is a long time, she has been functional in many ways. She certainly deserves a go at making a case for it. You mentioned previously the continuing limitations on her right to procreate, and that does strike me as a significant abridgement of rights.

But the red flags just keep coming up here. Her ACLU attorney is trying to litigate this in the press and in public opinion, which always bothers me and smacks of a weak legal argument. Her opinion about how conservatorship should be handled in general is not really the issue here. She believes that less-restrictive alternatives should be required to be tried. Should we apply that principle to prison sentences as well? "Gee, warden, have you tried letting him out for a couple of weeks to see how that goes?" If your license to practice medicine is suspended, are you supposed to get a few patients on a trial basis before the time is up?

Where is the evidence that she is making good decisions in the areas she has control, which would show that she deserves more freedom? That's what I would want to see.

I will also say again that the argument that she's doing so well performing is not a strong argument in her favor. It's a little something. But she might only be doing so well because she has someone steering the ship. Working for so long with patients who had guardians we would hear this frequently. Guardianship, or involuntary commitment is working great, so let's get rid of it?

7/4/21, 4:20 AM
Ann Althouse said...

@Assistant Village Idiot

I think ACLU lawyer is saying the presumption should be in favor of freedom and the standard shouldn't just be whether the conservatorship is helping her avoid bad decisions she'd make on her own. The country is full of adults making terrible decisions for themselves, and we don't save them.

7/4/21, 4:22 AM

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