With recruits, we often see that a female recruit who may have chosen to be a cook is treated differently from another female recruit who may have chosen a combat career, in tanks, for example.
That is also perpetuated inside the unit. When you have chosen a combat career where you are almost the only woman, there’s a lot of pressure. In the beginning, those women want to show that they have the ability, but, after a certain amount of time, they give up and go to work with the quartermaster. Often, they realize that they will never able to get into the courses to become master corporals and that they will always be stuck in the rank of corporal. Certainly, that’s my perception from my experience in the forces.
In your opinion, has that changed? Have women who choose non-traditional careers seen any change of culture in the army, or is there still a problem in the Canadian Forces? Although, on paper, women are allowed to be in the combat trades and in the more difficult trades, the fact remains that, culturally, after a certain time, you realize that it’s simply impossible and you’re just being masochistic in wanting to continue along those lines.