To day this day it stands true that there are no women in the Navy SEALs. This has been debated by many “equal rights” groups who claim that this is a sexist law. However, there has never been a woman who could pass the strenuous physical aspects of Navy SEAL training. In fact, there has never been a woman who has qualified to even be considered to enter BUD/S Training.
Though this is true of the United States Navy, it’s not true where film is concerned. Specifically for the 1997 Ridley Scott film G.I. Jane, wherein, Demi Moore plays a woman who is training to become the very first female Navy SEAL. The film portrays Demi Moore’s character as a very driven women who wants to make a bold statement that “women can do everything that a man can do”. This film was considered by many associated with the Navy SEALs to be very controversial.
Regardless of whether you support female Navy SEALs or not, the film G.I. Jane is an intriguing action/drama that comes off more like a political statement in the end. Even G.I. Jane herself begins to question her motives and whether or not she could successfully carry out missions just as well as the other physically fit men around her.
For now, female Navy SEALs are just a work of Hollywood magic and it is believed that in the near future there will be no female Navy SEALs. However, many are hopeful that this could change in the many years to come.
October 2nd, 2009 - 8:29 pm
If women want to become SEALs, I say let them, but they’re not getting any special treatment. They bunk with the guys, train with the guys, eat with the guys, and shower with the guys if they want to fight alongside the guys.
The enemy doesn’t give handicaps because you’re a woman. If you want to be a SEAL, you are a SEAL, not a male SEAL, not a female SEAL, and you will be expected to act like a SEAL.
There’s no silver medal in a life-or-death fight – only the winner and the corpse.
October 2nd, 2009 - 11:51 pm
Never gonna happen. This isn’t some politically correct cookie cutter organization we’re talking about. This is the Navy SEAL’s. And there is no place in the Navy SEAL’s for people (in this case, women) who can’t actually perform the job, because including them would not only endanger their lives, but the lives of the other members of the SEAL team, and possibly more beyond, depending on what the repercussions of the mission failure are.
That there are people pushing for this solely based on politics, with no regard whatsoever for the real world implications, is absolutely disgraceful. They should give a thought as to the lives they’d be putting in peril, rather than the supposed “unfairness” of women being unable to serve in the SEAL’s. This is America, after all, where you’re supposed to achieve something because you EARN it, and not because some busybody somewhere believes we need to fill gender/racial/ethnic quotas.
October 8th, 2009 - 4:57 am
[...] of time. Another arm of the military that is yet to see integration is the Navy SEALs – having a G.I. Jane, until now, remains to be possible only in [...]
October 22nd, 2009 - 7:55 pm
I say that if a woman can pass all the tests and show just as much promise as a man, yes let them in. But this all depends on if they can make it. No special treatment, and if they’re incompitent they can’t join.
October 26th, 2009 - 10:37 am
“However, there has never been a woman who could pass the strenuous physical aspects of Navy SEAL training. In fact, there has never been a woman who has qualified to even be considered to enter BUD/S Training.”
How could this statement even be true if women aren’t allowed to try? It’s not like the Navy could let them.
There are women out there who can – and have – passed the qual test.
In the BUD/S prep school in Annapolis, there are female instructors who pt the BUD/S students every day who can pass the BUD/S prep test with their eyes closed.
There are also female Olympians who have been invited to the Nval Special Warfare Center who have put many men to shame with their times.
Women at the SEAL Fitness Challenge have also passed with excellent times. You shouldn’t want to take away from any of their accomplishments.
Please don’t make it sound like the training is so hard, only a man could ever do it. The training is meant to be tough, that’s why there are so few SEALs. But it’s tough – not impossible.
Yes it is true women cannot be SEAL/S. What is NOT true is the reason they can’t is becuase they aren’t capable.
November 9th, 2009 - 10:34 pm
if a woman can pass the test then let her in. there have been arguments that if women were allowed to join the navy seals that it would slow down the program. this includes hygen issues, sexual tension.. etc. also men are afraid that if women where excepted in the program that men will take risks saving a woman then a man. hygen issues; women still wish for seperate showers and latrines. i believe that if women wish to be in the program they have to act like a seal… so pretty much become a guy and suck it up. sexual tension, there have been arguments that if women were in the program that it would cause sexual tension between the men and the women. but i’m sure that if they are well focused and motivated enough to complete the training then sex would be last on their minds. but yea, if women can pass the test,and have the physically and mentally strenth then let them in.
November 10th, 2009 - 7:42 am
if a girl can pass the test then let her in. there have been arguments based on hygien issues and sexual tension. on hygien issues, women wish for seperate showers and toliets. but if you want to become a navy seal you have act like one! also there have been arguments based on sexual tension. im sure that the men and women who are motivated enough sex would be last thing on their minds.
February 11th, 2010 - 8:12 pm
Yes, women can do a lot of things, even survive some weeks of BUDs but even if the comment does not sound too good to fellow women advocates, I have spent 24 hours in a Navy Seal Challenge accepting civilians and future SOF recruits just to see how it feels withut watering down the evolutions and my experience -that was very good, although strenous- showed me that no matter the mental fitness and the resilience, even the will to go along them as one more with no privileges sharing the barracks, the showers and the toilets, it comes to a point that the crude carreer of a SOF is a man´s thing. I advocate to the first phase of BUDs as a prime character builder where even civilians of both sexes can benefit greatly from it, but that is one thing and other to place a young woman 18 to 30 in a career of dealing with the very worst in the world on daily basis. Having a taste of that environment and enjoying the military atmosphere I still think is not a good idea. Would be wasting her. Men emotionally can overcome and survive better than women under mayhem conditions. GI Jane and G Force are enjoyable, but fiction.
April 24th, 2010 - 7:26 am
I can’t believe in the 21st century that there are still women who believe that women aren’t equal to men. Both genders have their weak and strong. We have proven many times in history that we are up to whatever challenge we are up against. I agree that women should be given no special treatment, but she should be allowed to try. I am in the military and I could honestly say I have met men who I would not want to be next to on the front line. We have to change society so people are blind to race, religion, and gender.
May 3rd, 2010 - 5:56 am
What you guys are talking about is great and all but.., theres still ONE thing. It was explained to me by my friend who is in the service that, since right now it’s men only in certain areas, if women were to be able in it, then they have to come up with a whole other place to isolate the men and women, different place to sleep, do overnite practice missions, showers, ect. because they don’t risk any distractions, were all human and it does happen….. but thats alot more money we’d have to cough out of our ass to be able to consider that, for what? were fine where we are, we don’t have that kind of money to spend on some bullshit right now.You can’t always get what you want, so fucking deal with it. Give an inch, take a damn mile. – And I’m a girl btw
June 30th, 2010 - 8:35 pm
Sounds like another excuse to glorify discrimination to me.
August 13th, 2010 - 8:08 pm
I believe women have the capabilities to fight as well as any man. However mixing men and women together is challenging out outbalanced. If a woman wants to be in special forces, I do believe the government should provide that right. So instead of joining the male Navy S.E.A.L.S, I believe they should form a female version. Just like sports for instance…women are physically different than men but it does not mean they cannot “play”. So give the women their own facilities, their own teams, their own standards to maintain. I am a woman and should not have to compete with a mans standards….Give me the highest women’s standards and give me my own sex to work with. It is not that men and women cannot work together, but due to physical differences, men should not be required to lower their physical standards and I should not be required to meet the standards of a sex that I am not…..