I have seen this picture/post now two or three times on my facebook and as a young women who is soon to be commissioned into the military I feel it is the responsibility of this generation of young adults and future officers to speak up against these assumptions of the people who are sharing this. This photo is presumed to be two women at the back of their squad without their packs while two men at the front portion of the squad carry their packs. It is very important that we recognize that these young women may or may not be with the same squad as these young men and also that many military training environments are about TRAINING. Do we not train to get better? I know that not all people are equal fitness levels but it is not fair to only call out women for their fitness levels or “lack of standards” like many are saying. I have been in this exact situations but I was carrying my pack and some of my peers were carrying the packs of people who were out on a “mission” and left their rucks with us so many of my peers had to carry two packs and EVERYONE offered help to those who took on that weights. Not just men, and not just women. I have had to over come adversity because of discrimination due to gender and it has made me so much stronger BUT it is still 100% not okay to single out JUST WOMEN. Men too have troubles carrying their weight and meeting standards. I said this on facebook and I will say it here, IGNORANCE is not an acceptable choice for our society going into the future. EQUALITY IS AWESOME!!!! Let us praise those for their achievements, not shit on others for what we see as mistakes and failures. We cannot continue to take photo’s and then make a post on social media where we assume they are a part of a certain gender, race, sexuality, or religion and then make some assumption that it is this one group of people who has a deficiency that is our job to correct. NO ONE IS PERFECT!!!!! It is time to support one another and HELP people strive for goals that will help our society become a more equal and inclusive place
