'We fought the fight and thought we got the job done'
Female Marines are calling for the end of misogyny in the U.S. military branch following its nude photo scandal.
The Washington Post reports that over 400 female Marines and Marine veterans have formed a group to push for an end to the “culture where women are devalued, demeaned and their contributions diminished.” The group, known as Actionable Change, aims to increase the number of women in the service, make revenge porn illegal in the military and improve gender integration in the military.
Actionable Change began on Facebook after allegations that several nude photographs of female Marines were shared on a Facebook page. Some said that the scandal heightened concerns about women in the service. In 2015, the Marines were the only branch of the military to publicly oppose the Pentagon’s plan to integrate women into combat roles. The Marines also have the lowest percentage of women compared to the other military services — approximately 7%.
A spokesperson for the Marines told the Post that the service agrees with the group’s concerns and plans to “continue to stand by all of our female Marines.”
“We love the Marine Corps, and this is about making it better,” Lt. Col. Ann Bernard, who started the group, told the Post. “We fought the fight and thought we got the job done, and now we’re realizing we’re not quite there yet. We’re not going to allow another generation of junior Marines that has this mentality that does not serve the Marine Corps at all.”