Re: “” March 16 letter to the editor.
In his letter regarding the Marine Corps nude-photo scandal, Stanley Young correctly points out that the Corps needs to clean up and acknowledge its responsibility for the posting of nude photos of female Marines without their consent.
From there, though, his argument descends into the boys-will-be-boys cliché. Young states that the men “shared pornography from a ready source,” which he describes as “a dynamic … going on probably since prehistory” that happens in other organizations.
True, but female soldiers forced to live in close quarters for military reasons are especially vulnerable. When their fellow soldiers use them as a “ready source” of cheap thrills, the action is a particularly shameful violation of the Marine Corps’ “Semper Fi” motto, which “guides Marines to remain faithful to the mission at hand, to each other, to the Corps and to country, no matter what.”
Young’s letter ends by saying the sexual curiosity of little boys is not related to them being in the Marine Corps. Also true, and also an invalid comparison and sad return to the boys-will-be-boys” perspective.
Denise Burrows, Arvada
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