Writes Patricia Marx, in "Is the Army’s New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? It’s fire-resistant but not bulletproof, and was developed with help from eighteen thousand female soldiers" (The New Yorker).
June 23, 2023
"In 1942, Vogue quoted a male soldier saying of his female counterparts, 'To look unattractive these days is downright 'morale-breaking and should be considered treason.'"
"The next year, that magazine carried an ad naming women in uniform the 'Best Dressed Women in the World Today.' The government asked Elizabeth Arden to concoct a lipstick to match the red piping on women’s Marine Corps uniforms. Women marines were issued this Montezuma Red lipstick and matching nail polish in their official military kits. (It remained mandatory for thirty more years.) A Tangee cosmetics ad from the era reasoned, 'No lipstick—ours or anyone else’s—will win the war. But it symbolizes one of the reasons we are fighting . . . the precious right of women to be feminine and lovely, under any circumstances.'"
Writes Patricia Marx, in "Is the Army’s New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? It’s fire-resistant but not bulletproof, and was developed with help from eighteen thousand female soldiers" (The New Yorker).
Writes Patricia Marx, in "Is the Army’s New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? It’s fire-resistant but not bulletproof, and was developed with help from eighteen thousand female soldiers" (The New Yorker).
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26 comments:
As was once said about the students at my alma mater, all this diversity and inclusion and sexual equality is great, but the male & female soldiers just won't stop screwing each other. I think once one accepts that behavior as ineradicable, more sensible oversight of the soldiers is possible. Not guaranteed, but possible.
"Is the Army’s New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? It’s fire-resistant but not bulletproof, and was developed with help from eighteen thousand female soldiers" (The New Yorker).
Isn't a bra strategic?
Strategical....you know, like......I don't wanna be kicking my tits like a couple of soccer balls when I'm 60!!!
I used a click-thru and read the whole thing. (Who could resist Montezuma Red?)
Every woman on the planet is looking for a comfortable bra that fits. This article was a mash-up of clothing history and women's military roles. It was all over the place. It completely side-stepped social commentary about breasts and who has them now.
This read like a puff piece from Cosmo or Glamour. I wanted an actual discussion of The Bra. If the military wouldn't grant her the access to acquire enough information, she should've waited until roll-out.
I wish someone at The Tablet had written this.
This sounds laughable in today's world, but presentation has always been extremely important for soldiers. They get their heads shaved in boot camp to look the same, they dress the same, they march in formation. In peacetime, their grooming should be impeccable, their personal belongings carefully cleaned and arranged, their bed tightly made.
Hopefully, this lipstick requirement didn't apply to people like front-line nurses, who had more important things to worry about, but most women in uniform were administrative and there's nothing really odd about being as strict about make-up as about everything else.
"Is the Army’s New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? It’s fire-resistant but not bulletproof, and was developed with help from eighteen thousand female soldiers"
Eighteen thousond? 18,000?? Is that all? Go big, or go home.
Joe Biden would have had 81 million female soldiers developing that........fraud.
A bullet-proof bra? Talk to Wonder Woman.
"But it symbolizes one of the reasons we are fighting . . . the precious right of women to be feminine and lovely, under any circumstances."
"Yes, that's all I'm trying to say." -Dylan Mulvaney
why we fight.. WOMEN. the Answer is, ALWAYS: women.
This explains why there are more lesbians in the army than gays.
It ALSO explains WHY the democrat are SO INSISTENT on gender changes for women
When I was in the Navy, 69-72, (the dark ages) Everyone complained about the Navy having only ugly WAVES. We found in boot camp that it was not true. The good looking ones ended up on admiral staff or in the Pentagon. After not SEEING a woman for two months, they marched our company through a tunnel under a road to a training session every morning for a week. Every day, we passed a male admiral & a gorgeous blonde WAVE. You could literally hear the entire company moan & sigh as her perfume hit us. I'm not fond of the new military. Call me a troglodyte.
"mikee said...
As was once said about the students at my alma mater, all this diversity and inclusion and sexual equality is great, but the male & female soldiers just won't stop screwing each other. I think once one accepts that behavior as ineradicable, more sensible oversight of the soldiers is possible. Not guaranteed, but possible."
One of the first principles of Military Leadership is:
"Never give an order that you know won't be obeyed"
It damages your credibility and encourages other disobedience.
From Starship Troopers, a universal maxim:
"In a mixed ship, the last thing a trooper hears before a drop (maybe the last word he ever hears) is a woman's voice, wishing him luck. If you don't think this is important, you've probably resigned from the human race."
"You made it there somehow
You’re a big girl now"
Not bullet proof?
Oh noes!
Do the guys get Kevlar jocks?
Is the Army’s New Tactical Bra Ready for Deployment? It’s fire-resistant but not bulletproof, and was developed with help from eighteen thousand female soldiers
The number of female soldiers who helped develop the new bra is immaterial. I’ll read the article if someone who has read it tells me whether it discusses why the military bureaucracy decided not to use Kevlar. Fire resistance is important — males and females deployed to combat zones “go commando” because elastic next to one’s skin that is exposed to high heat will leave serious injuries and disfiguring scars.
I spent a few years examining military recruits, male and female. That, of course, was before the Biden regime. Female recruits almost invariably were not interested in combat roles. They were looking for clerical jobs with benefits. Which was fine. The Navy added female sailors to ship crews about the time of Gulf War I. They were not happy. 25% of the female sailors deployed became pregnant and had to be returned. So much for the feminist military.
The Navy, needing to be different will be introducing its "Seagoing Titsling"
Seriously, while it is good to see Army paying attention to uniform items, how strict are they on what underwear is worn? Will women be required to wear it? Or will they be allowed to wear whatever bra they find comfortable? With perhaps a restriction on color.
Navy skivvy shorts sucked, back in the day and a lot of us wore whatever we found comfortable. Ditto working shoes.
Most of us did not wear Navy issue uniforms but wore "Seafarer" brand uniforms. They look like navy uniforms but fit and were a more comfortable material. Most importantly they had zippers instead of button flys.
Although the Navy introduced the new bus driver dress uniform in 1971 and stopped issuing crackerjacks shortly thereafter, many sailors were still wearing them in the 90s. Ditto the dungarees. Also phased out in 1971, still being worn into the 2000s.
So how strict is the Army on wearing issue uniforms?
(And don't get me started on the stupidity of the Navy camo fatigue uniform.
John LGB Henry
I seem to recall that the Brits in WWII had special underwear for the WRENs, etc. They were called, informally, "sex preventers" Basically a very tight fitting girdle that extended down the thigh and virtually impossible to remove in any reasonable about of time. By the time you go them off, both were too tired for sex.
That might be the way to address Mikee's comment.
John LGB Henry
Red lips and fingernails? Well, I hope they issued rapid removal kits for those women in areas where they could end up hiding from the enemy due to a hospital being overrun or a transport interdicted.
Fireproof?
I guess they learned from the USS Stark attack where one officer discovered the dangers of synthetic underpants. I always thought of this when I had to wear my CNTs aboard. If there is a fire, strip off first, then go to the fire.
"Michael K said...
I spent a few years examining military recruits, male and female. That, of course, was before the Biden regime. Female recruits almost invariably were not interested in combat roles. They were looking for clerical jobs with benefits. "
The dirty secret is all the hype on "women in combat is driven by female Academy grads with "Stars in their eyes" looking to get tickets punched.
Female enlisted are looking for some combo of:
- get away from small town or family situation
- education benefits
- job skills
- a husband (who is drug free, not a thug, and who has a steady job)
It reminds me of that beautiful story of cases of lipstick sent to female Holocaust survivors, many of whom held it more dear than food itself: their humanity, their identity, their womanhood: https://thewisdomdaily.com/how-a-haircut-nail-polish-and-lipstick-saved-untold-amounts-of-lives/.
"I’ll read the article if someone who has read it tells me whether it discusses why the military bureaucracy decided not to use Kevlar."
In the bra? Because all soldiers layer up with a Kevlar vest.
You can read the article if you want, but I wouldn't recommend it.
JAORE, if you read the article, they do have blast-proof undergarments for both genders to protect them from landmines/IED's explosions from below.
I enjoyed the article but WHERE WERE THE PHOTOS. I was so annoyed by the lack of photos.
Having the right bra for the right activity really makes a difference. One of my most treasured possessions is a Craft Biking bra which has been discontinued and is only available in closeout sales. It's looking a bit sweaty and tattered now but I will always pull it out on a hot day to avoid the dreaded boob sweat.
Read it last night. Snarky but amusing. Mostly about military protocol/language with bras as the...fall gal?
"Laid out on a nearby table was an olive-drab top with a liftable panel, next to a museum-like label reading “Nursing T-Shirt.”
What do the nursing soldiers do with their child while they're getting blowed up in Afghanistan?
I don't know any thing about the new BattleBra, but I will suggest that it'll take all the fun off the battle field if the guys can't watch the puppies bounce when the ladies are running.
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