I entirely agree with Carolyn's perspective about looking at all our programs with a gendered lens to see what we're doing today that we're going to be ashamed of in five or 10 years.
I've spoken at these committees four times now. Every time, I mention the Silver Cross Mother as an example. Every year, we have a Silver Cross Mother who represents the mothers out there who have lost their children in service to this country, but why, in 2023, do we not have a Silver Cross family or parent?
We have soldiers now who have two fathers or two mothers or who were raised by guardians and grandparents. It's time to change words like those that work to our detriment, because the answer is that they're telling us, “Oh, but women have a special bond with their children.” Yes, it suits you to think that, because then we are the ones responsible for caring for children. We need to change biases like that.