Navy Women Speak Out

By Dawn Lim

Earlier this month, I sat in on a Navy panel called "Uniform Matters" at the 23rd annual Women's Leadership Symposium in Washington. "Why aren't we issued undergarments in the same color as our uniforms?" one female Navy attendee asked. She noted that the lack of matching bras might cause embarrassment during vigorous training. After initial gasps from other attendees, her question was met with applause all around.

Twenty years after the Tailhook scandal, attitudes in the military towards women have shifted, culminating in the Navy's removal of the ban on women aboard submarines. In a more confident position relative to their male colleagues, women now want to see their issues addressed.

"Before, when you were in uniform, you were genderless, you didn't have separate issues. A lot of pioneers chose not to pursue a family because they wanted to reach a certain professional level," said Stephanie Miller, the director of women's policy for the Navy, at the conference. "Now it's much easier to say, I am an intelligence officer and a woman."

According to a summary of results from latest 2008 Pregnancy and Parenthood Survey provided by a Navy spokeswoman, there was a "significant increase" in the percentage of female enlisted personnel who believe that a Navy woman should become pregnant "whenever she wants" compared to previous years. The survey also revealed a "noticeable increase" in the annual pregnancy rate amongst enlisted women between 2000 and 2007.

That's an issue for men, too. According to the survey, about 70 percent of those who get pregnant conceive a child with a military partner. In 2010, over 45,000 women in active duty were recorded as married to another member of the armed services.

"Men get pregnant too, they just don't carry the baby," Miller said at the symposium.