Criticism has been sparse. What there has been is rebutted usually as merely the squawks of dinosaurs. In fact, the denatured military has been vociferously cheered on by the lads and lasses of the press, very few of whom ever wore a uniform and who often are contemptuous of those who have. Thus, Stephanie Gutman is to be admired for the nerve to write The Kinder, Gentler Military. One of the book s strengths is that Gutman does not carry ideological baggage, though she concludes that the virus of sexual politics is ravaging the armed forces.
Young men challenge each other.
That s the way they are. What she calls fem fear now is pervasive in the armed forces, the constant shadow that almost any word or gesture can be and often is interpreted as sexual harassment and there goes the old career. Accusation is tantamount to guilt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy s belated complaint is a vivid recent instance. Women have served honorably and well and will continue to do so.