Politics
UK Army May Axe ‘Masculine’ Titles Like ‘Rifleman’ In Favor Of Gender Neutral Alternatives
The head of the U.K. Army is considering a move away from centuries-old military titles such as “Rifleman” or “Guardsman” because they are “too masculine,” according to a report from the Daily Express.
General Sir Patrick Sanders is planning to move the army away from traditional military titles after female soldiers reportedly told him that masculine titles are “exclusionary.” Gender neutral alternatives could soon replace the centuries-old titles in an effort to make the nation’s armed forces more “inclusive.”
If Sanders opts to do away with “masculine” titles in the army, the move could have wide-reaching effects throughout the rest of the U.K.’s armed forces. The U.S. Navy could be forced to do away with their own “gendered” titles such as “midshipman” or “seaman.”
The Royal Air Force has already done away with gendered titles. Last year, the rank of “aircraftsman” with “air specialist.” The remaining branches have since been under pressure from activists and some elements of the armed forces to follow the Air Force’s lead.
“If you want to tap into people’s potential, people have to feel they can be themselves,” General Sanders said during a recent podcast appearance. When asked whether gendered terms are “exclusionary” for female soldiers, he replied by saying, “We are having precisely these conversations.”
“When I sat down with the Army Servicewomen’s Network the other day I heard two things; A female section commander in a Rifles battalion said to me ‘don’t you dare take this rank away from me, because I am proud to be a Rifleman, that’s my rank as much as it is yours,” Sanders said. “But I also hear from a lot of women [that] these are the small things which exclude. There is no getting away from it, Rifleman and Guardsman are masculine appointments and titles.”
He also speculated that female soldiers opposed to gender neutral rankings only believe so out of fear of “reprisals.”
“Are they just saying that because they don’t want to rock the boat? They don’t want to be seen to be the ones to unpick it? It is something we need to think really, really carefully,” he said.
NEW – UK army is considering replacing centuries-old ranks such as rifleman and guardsman with "gender-neutral" terms "because they are too masculine" and to make "regiments more inclusive."https://t.co/YzL720iSCK
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 17, 2023
Similar pushes have taken place inside the U.S. Armed Forces, though the major branches have yet to officially do away with any “gendered” titles.
Last Fall, Air Force cadets were instructed to use “gender inclusive” language and advised not to use terms like “boyfriend/girlfriend” or “you guys.” Alternatives included “team,” “squaddies” or even “ya’ll,” according to a report from the New York Post.
