Poor Rick Santorum. Things were going so well for him. Just this week, the Pennsylvania Senator shocked the nation -- and Mitt Romney -- by sweeping Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado. He was on his way to a Obama presidential victory. Then he had to go and put his sexist foot in his mouth.
When asked what he thought of the Pentagon's decision to formally open up combat roles to women, Santorum replied with, "[It] could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved."
Hear that, ladies? "Other types of emotions." Like, we might be on our periods one day in battle and start thinking about Steel Magnolias and just start bawling our mascara-ed eyes out.
I'm not even sure what Santorum meant by that statement, but I do know it was a foolish thing to say. And so to counteract the rampant sexism hanging out in the world today, here are five badass military ladies.
Kim Voelz. Kim, who was part of the Army's elite bomb squad, was killed at just 27 years of age while trying to defuse an explosive device. Her husband, Max, also a member of the bomb squad, survived.
Staff Sergeant Kametra Smith. Last year, Sergeant Smith surprised her 4-year-old daughter at school after returning from home from Iraq. Her daughter almost bursts from excitement, and the homecoming is one of the most heart-warming you'll ever see. It always seems to be dads' military homecomings we're privy to on the news and YouTube -- and they're always amazing. But let's not forget about the moms serving our country, too.
Robin Roche-Paull. Author of the book Breastfeeding in Combat Boots, Paull couldn't be more badass. Not only is she a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where she served as an aircraft mechanic, she's a lactation consultant -- and she breastfed her son while on active duty. Talk about dedication -- to her country and her child!
Sgt. LaJuanna Baker and Cpl. Andrea Moreira-Rios. Baker and Moreira-Rios were approached by a midwife in Afghanistan to see if they would help deliver a local baby while they were handing out "hygiene packets" at a local health clinic. Of course, the two women said yes, and the rest is history. Not so sure a man would have been able to deal with something like that.
Florence Green. Just last weekend, Florence Green passed away at the ripe old age of 110. Her claim to fame? She was the last-known World War I veteran. 'Nuff said.
This list is for Rick Santorum. The next time he wants to voice his opinion that women are too fragile and emotional to handle military combat, he should consult it. Hopefully, it will inspire something better than "other types of emotions" to come out.
How amazing are these women? What do you think of Santorum's comment?
Image via CafeLindsay/Flickr
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Comments 31
Boy did you jump to conclusions on that one. You yourself stated that you don't know what he meant by his statement but then start bashing the man. It didn't sound sexist per say. To me an Army veteran myself, it sounded like he was more concerned with what he himself might perceive as a distraction, that as a man he might be able to see a man react differently to a situation if a woman were involved which might jeopardize the mission, or be worried about possible fraternization which could also possibly jeopardize the mission as well. On the other hand I am not saying I agree with this, I just think this post is bias.
I admire him more in the fact that he might be protective of women personally. Men still want to do that ya know!