When I was around 20 years old, I attended an arduous military course that not many women participate in (or pass)…I won’t go into specific details as I still serve and don’t want to be identified at present. I was the only female on the course (of about 30 participants) also the only female in the entire camp. The lead ‘para’ instructor was absolutely dead-set on me not passing the course and made many attempts to intimidate me throughout the course. I’ve heard people say in the past that everyone in the Forces is picked on for one thing, be it their name, their appearance or some other trait. Fine in the name of lighthearted banter, but this was clearly sexism in my eyes. He repeatedly called me “Doris” and continually asked me whether I thought I could pass the course, “are you sure, Doris?”. When carrying some weighted bags on a fitness session, he commented that : “if you can carry your shopping bags, I’m sure you can carry these”. When I did pass the course, he gave me a crushing handshake of false congratulations. I cannot explain how victorious I felt to have passed because he didn’t want me to, but also how angry I was that he thought this was acceptable behaviour. He even openly mentioned that females had made complaints against him in the past. I felt powerless to challenge his comments at the time because I wanted to pass the course and he was in charge and a higher rank than me.
This is the only brazenly sexist asshole I’ve met in my military career but I’ll never forget him.
