Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Women in the military

Frankly, L. Frank Baum's fictional version is considerably more realistic and plausible than one commonly finds in science fiction and fantasy today.
     Well!" declared Tip, drawing a long breath, "this is certainly a surprising thing! May I ask why you wish to conquer His Majesty the Scarecrow?"

    "Because the Emerald City has been ruled by men long enough, for one reason," said the girl.

    "Moreover, the City glitters with beautiful gems, which might far better be used for rings, bracelets and necklaces; and there is enough money in the King's treasury to buy every girl in our Army a dozen new gowns. So we intend to conquer the City and run the government to suit ourselves."

    Jinjur spoke these words with an eagerness and decision that proved she was in earnest.

    "But war is a terrible thing," said Tip, thoughtfully.

    "This war will be pleasant," replied the girl, cheerfully.

    "Many of you will be slain!" continued the boy, in an awed voice.

    "Oh, no", said Jinjur. "What man would oppose a girl, or dare to harm her? And there is not an ugly face in my entire Army."

    Tip laughed.

    "Perhaps you are right," said he. "But the Guardian of the Gate is considered a faithful Guardian, and the King's Army will not let the City be conquered without a struggle."

    "The Army is old and feeble," replied General Jinjur, scornfully. "His strength has all been used to grow whiskers, and his wife has such a temper that she has already pulled more than half of them out by the roots. When the Wonderful Wizard reigned the Soldier with the Green Whiskers was a very good Royal Army, for people feared the Wizard. But no one is afraid of the Scarecrow, so his Royal Army don't count for much in time of war."

...

    Friends, fellow-citizens, and girls!" she said; "we are about to begin our great Revolt against the men of Oz! We march to conquer the Emerald City—to dethrone the Scarecrow King—to acquire thousands of gorgeous gems—to rifle the royal treasury—and to obtain power over our former oppressors!"

    "Hurrah!" said those who had listened; but Tip thought most of the Army was too much engaged in chattering to pay attention to the words of the General.

...

    "Surrender!" echoed the man, astounded. "Why, it's impossible. It's against the law! I never heard of such a thing in my life."

    "Still, you must surrender!" exclaimed the General, fiercely. "We are revolting!"

    "You don't look it," said the Guardian, gazing from one to another, admiringly.

    "But we are!" cried Jinjur, stamping her foot, impatiently; "and we mean to conquer the Emerald City!"

16 comments:

swiftfoxmark2 said...

"What man would oppose a girl, or dare to harm her? And there is not an ugly face in my entire Army."

I'm laughing with Tip.

This is why I encourage men to never strike a woman, but always strike back. They are beautiful creatures for sure, but that doesn't give them the right to commit wanton acts of violence and destruction nor is it a defense against such things.

Krul said...

All Hail King Scarecrow

It's funny if you imagine Scarecrow in that clip to be talking to General Jinjur and her army.

Anonymous said...

"Still, you must surrender!" exclaimed the General, fiercely. "We are revolting!"

"You don't look it," said the Guardian, gazing from one to another, admiringly.

"But we are!" cried Jinjur, stamping her foot, impatiently; "and we mean to conquer the Emerald City!"


Women can be quite comical when they're angry, especially when they're being silly.

CarpeOro said...

Haven't read the book (or it has been years. I do recall reading one other book where the main character boy turned out to be a girl in the end... all pretty vague). Was the next part where the girls become so frustrated they have sex with the guard for telling them no?

Bodichi said...

Being enlisted for six years and being commissioned for four (still in) there is one hard and fast question I have asked all of my superiors and never received and answer for. Below is the situation I pose:

LT: Sir, if a black private did 40 pushups and a white private did 40 pushups and we gave the white private more points for the same amount of pushups, leading to more promotions and schools what would that be classified as?

CPT: That would be discrimination. Clear cut. We would need to ferret that out and correct it.

LT: Rrg. What would it be called if a male solider did 40 pushups and a female soldier did 40 pushups and we gave the female soldier more points for the same amount of pushups, leading to more promotions and schools what would that be classified as?

CPT: /Snide look

Anonymous said...

I do recall reading one other book where the main character boy turned out to be a girl in the end... all pretty vague).

Yeah, that was Tip. Turned out to be Princess Ozma.

Bob said...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30794476#

"Boys should be encouraged to play with dolls to make them more "nurturing and caring", Lib Dem equalities minister Jo Swinson has suggested."

Fuck's sake...

Retrenched said...

A military dumb enough to put women on the front lines deserves to lose.

Retrenched said...

@Bob

Notice how its perfectly acceptable to talk about gender differences when you say that females are better. The opposite would never be allowed of course.

Tommy Hass said...

"They are beautiful creatures for sure,"

You're weird.

NMA said...

@Bob

The next line, which was emphasised a lot more on the radio, is telling.
"She said it would make them more likely to work in the adult care sector when they grew up."
Less to do with feminism and more to do with the panic about an aging population whose families won't look after them.

Ron said...

his wife has such a temper that she has already pulled more than half of them out by the roots.

He allows his wife to disgrace him, and this shows a) negative preselectipn. The women closest to him despise him and b) he demonstrates that he is too weak to stop her.

R Devere said...

"A military dumb enough to put women on the front lines deserves to lose"

Oh, I don't know: challenge the gung-ho femi-Nazis to prove their worth, them send 'em upfront to absorb the nasty stuff. Those husky F-N's absorb bullets just as well as good men.

Kill two birds with a single stone! (NPI).

Anonymous said...

Oh, I don't know: challenge the gung-ho femi-Nazis to prove their worth, them send 'em upfront to absorb the nasty stuff. Those husky F-N's absorb bullets just as well as good men.

Or use them to clear minefields. All that extra blubber makes them particularly suited for this role.

Hank Brown said...

Then the generation that read this grew upto give us WACs and Waves. Slippery slope from there.

Anchorman said...

Oh, I don't know: challenge the gung-ho femi-Nazis to prove their worth, them send 'em upfront to absorb the nasty stuff. Those husky F-N's absorb bullets just as well as good men.

To point to the Charlie incident, I'm certain you'd find them cowering in a ditch, having given their weapons, ammo, and directions to the CP to the enemy - if they didn't immediately take up war-bride status.

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