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What really hurts women

Pardon me, I’m about to trip into the deep end here.

What hurts women in national security isn’t other women expressing—or not expressing—their sexuality. What hurts women is an entrenched belief—like the one expressed by Dana Perino in Spencer’s post—that men inherently know more about national security matters than women.

Are women sometimes rewarded for expressing themselves in a “sexy” way? Sure. They’re also punished for it, too. See: the need for Slutwalks. A woman should have the right to present herself as she wishes and have her ideas critiqued on the same level as any man. Or as any woman. For too long, society has policed what women do with their bodies, free time, clothing, you name it. As a woman, I’m tired of it. I’m ready to be judged for the content of the work I produce.

Ideally, a woman’s article about the British counterinsurgency campaign during the Mau Mau Uprising would be considered and critiqued on the same level as any man’s. We don’t live in an ideal world. Sometimes, presenting one’s self as a scantily clad 21 year old actually gets your article read.

But in the wise words of Ice-T, “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Hate that we live in a society that judges the wrapper, not the empty calories inside. But don’t hate the short skirts or the cargo pants or the woman wearing them. We have come too far and still have much too far to go to ignore the bigger issues keeping women’s voices out of the conversation.

Notes

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    better be awesome:...great post. Go read all
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    this, but just want...underline how much...fucking...
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