The U.S. Marine Corps plans to take the word “man” out of 19 of its titles, and some in the military community are not jazzed about the new gender-neutral names for their positions.
The change, first reported Monday by the Marine Corps Times, is being touted as a way to make jobs more inclusionary after women began to take on combat roles this year. Most titles that had the term “man” have been changed to include the word “marine,” including “Reconnaissance Marine” and “Basic infantry Marine,” according the Times.
Many of the more iconic titles, including “rifleman” and “mortarman,” were left unchanged after careful consideration, an anonymous source told the Marine Corps Times. A service-wide announcement was expected to come in the next few days, according to the report.
Still, the Washington Post reported that the shift has ruffled a few feathers in the military community.
“On one hand, the name changes from ‘man’ to ‘person’ or whatever they want to call it doesn’t really matter. They could call mortarmen bakers for all I care,” Sgt. Geoff Heath told the Post. “But on the other, it’s a direct reflection on society’s crybaby political correctness.”
The reaction rippled across social media, too, as Marine veterans aired their grievances or praised the change. The comments section of an unofficial Marine Corps Facebook page, “Terminal Lance,” was particularly active.
“Not really seeing why this matters,” one comment read, according to the Post. “A marine is a marine. If this triggers you well … not really sure what to say honestly. You’d think someone who has seen combat would have more stones.”
“Are they gonna stop calling them Marines next?” another read, according to the Post.
Others sounded off on Twitter:
We live in unserious times, Part Infinity-Squared.https://t.co/glMJ3FFTFs
— Aaron MacLean (@AaronBMacLean) June 28, 2016
Looks like @USMC took my advice https://t.co/OV9VFFvYXg via @marinetimes https://t.co/yB1ToSGqNn
— Leo Cruz (@LeoCruz1787) June 28, 2016
The author of the Post’s report, a Marine veteran himself, had a sense of humor about the situation:
Now that Basic is in my job title, I wont give my self such a hard time for those pumpkin spice lattes come October. https://t.co/AXzXk4MnTd
— Thomas Gibbons-Neff (@Tmgneff) June 28, 2016
