Green Wet Dreams

Women first entered the Seabees right around 1994 and, by every account I have ever heard, were not well received. I’m happy to report that tensions have eased during the last 12 years and I can honestly say I’ve never felt like I was resented because of my gender.** But today a Senior Chief was telling me that he thought the strength and integrity of the battalion had declined significantly since women came on board. He said that sexual tension and sex acts have destroyed the loyalty and commitment that one Seabee feels to another. Men are too busy fighting over women to find time to be good buddies. And women are too busy trying to seduce men to perform at full capacity. Maybe he’s right. I don’t really know. It is a significant and interesting set of ideas. But the strange thing is, as strong as my attraction is to this topic, all I want to do is forget about it and knit a beanie with the rose-colored soy and polypropylene yarn I just bought. Sometimes a girl just needs a break from thinking. What good does it do anyway?


**At least not in the Seabees. But there was a Marine Staff Sergeant in Alaska who I felt resented me very deeply because of my gender. However, because of an altercation he had with a Gunnery Sergeant, he was removed from the project and sent back to his parent command only a few weeks after he arrived.