You obviously didn’t serve in the Marine Corps and likely not even in the infantry. I can understand how the average pogue might see things from your position, but infantry Marines work, fight, and live together. In many cases, especially during war (and yes, I served in Iraq), this also includes showering together.
But the biggest problem with this is not just gays and straights showering together. This will put open homosexuals in command of those they are sexually attracted to and see naked on a regular basis. For instance, take a DI in boot camp who often sees recruits running around naked (yes, this happens in Marine Corps boot camp). How does this NOT create a hostile working environment?
The solution, of course, is for every soldier, sailor, marine, airman to file endless sexual harrassment complaints against the queers in the military.
Non-stop.
I was on Subs.
I have been on war games with Army and Marines.
You throw down a palate and hang a tarp on the side a tank or whatever. Also Baby wipes are your friend.
Scatological language is, for better or worse, part of the normal “friendly harassment” that is visited upon recruits during basic training. But the whole dynamic changes when it’s a flaming fag doing the bathroom talk. It’s not man-to-man any more, it’s queer-to-man.
Excellent points. Why can’t those dunderheaded dunces in Congress understand that?!!!!!!!!!
What you say is true for the USAF, too. One doesn’t necessarily have luxury accommodations wherever one deploys, even though the USAF generally has better billeting than the Marines. Even in hard billets, i.e. buildings, we’d have to share rooms and bathroom facilities. We also spent time in tents. In those cases, we had shower and latrine tents where you pretty much had to do your business with other men. Sitting in plain sight on the crapper while other men walk by is a bit unsettling. It’s an encouragement to get your business done quickly! LOL.
There’s also a big difference between knowing and not knowing if your bunk and shower mates are gay. If it’s against the rules to reveal one’s sexual orientation, a gay guy is going to hide their feelings. You don’t know if someone is gay, but you know they can’t do anything about it because their career is on the line. Now they can openly discuss their perversity with others of like mind, and us heterosexuals will just have to deal with it? Unless regulations pretty much duplicate DADT, then this shared facilities crap is going to hit the proverbial fan.
I expect the logic behind having to do it in training is to desensitise you in preparation for when you have to do it, but for god's sake, I would WANT to be embarrassed in that situation and I'd be a lot happier if the other guys there were just as embarrassed as me.
I had one gym teacher, who was an arse bandit of the worst kind, and most of us suspected his persistent hanging around with a clipboard wasn't merely to quantify the accuracy of the towel flick.
'Hmmm, let's see... That guy is quite the exhibitionist but isn't staring at anyone's junk... could be straight, or not, but it's worth a punt. That guy with the semi-on but looking deeply embarrassed... either he's in the closet, or has priapism. Ah, this one's ensuring that nobody can stare at his junk and looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp. Either severely closeted or a homophobe. Conclusion: not worth the risk. OMG! Hold the phone! Look at this ginger beer! His eyes are bulging out of his head! No boner though... good self control.'
I've always found the keen attentiveness of the gym teacher and the exhuberance of some guys in the locker room, far more disturbing than the attitude of guys who clearly would rather be someplace else.