In a move that has left some of its members disgruntled, the U.S. Marines Corps has decided to make a number of their service titles gender neutral by removing the word “man” from combat jobs—and as you might have guessed by now, some dudes be angry.
The change comes months after women who completed the necessary certifications—which totaled at roughly 233 enlistees—were officially allowed to apply for combat jobs, according to new guidelines laid out by the Marines’ new integration plan.
Via The Washington Post:
The list of jobs removes the word “man” from 15 of the titles and replaces it with Marine. In other changes, “antitank missileman” has been renamed “antitank gunner,” and “field artillery operations man” is now “field artillery operations chief.” The other three title changes pertain to positions associated with reconnaissance Marine (formerly reconnaissance man) occupational specialties.
While some positions will remain the same in name, such as “mortarman” and “rifleman,” 19 out of 29 of the titles will officially change.
As has become expected in the blighted wasteland of Drumpfian-era politics, many former and current Marines—almost all of them male—are blaming the change in nomenclature on the general blanket scapegoat “political correctness.”
“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,” said Sergeant Geoff Heath, a Marine rifleman and combat veteran, in an interview with WaPo. “But on the other, it’s a direct reflection on society’s crybaby political correctness.”
Other statements WaPo kindly collected from Terminal Lance—a Facebook group dedicated to the comic of the same name whose subject matter centers around Marine culture—indicate similar sentiments.
“Not really seeing why this matters,” wrote one commentor. “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.”
Another Marine added “lol glad i only got a few months left [sic].”
The Marines are expected to make an official statement about the changes sometime in the near future.
Contact the author at jamie.reich@jezebel.com.
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