Army PR Push for Women in Combat to Feature “Average Looking” Women

In the late 1980s, conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh penned a series of undeniable truths of which #24 read that modern feminism was designed to give unattractive women access to mainstream America. The statement has been an affront to feminists for decades, but the US Army may be unwittingly validating that very “undeniable” truth by the controversial radio commentator.

The US Army is seeking introduce women in combat roles in greater numbers. The Army’s public relations department believes that photographs of attractive women undermine the military branch’s efforts to integrate women in combat roles. A memo from Col. Lynette Arnhart, an Army spokeswoman, stated that images of attractive women foster stereotypes that the woman’s beauty formed the basis of her job opportunity.

“In general, ugly women are perceived as competent while pretty women are perceived as having used their looks to get ahead,” wrote Col. Lynette Arnhart.

The same colonel opined that photographs of “ugly” women, as she termed it, give an image that the women earned her mark via her skills. Wow! Exactly who is struggling with stereotypes in this situation? Col. Arnhart then recommends that it may be better to select photographs of average looking women for military ads featuring women in combat.

“There is a general tendency to select nice looking women when we select a photo to go with an article (where the article does not reference a specific person). It might behoove us to select more average looking women for our comms strategy.” Arnhart said.

Given the full context of the memo, it is now clear that the United States Army defines the phrase “average looking woman” as the politically correct equivalent of an “ugly” woman.

On The Web:
Army PR push: ‘Average-looking women’
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/army-pr-push-average-looking-women-100065.html