Yes, military advertising utilizes the hero/warrior image, but to some extent so do the recruitments for most male civilian jobs.
I think that prospective soldiers probably pay more attention to the reception that they see soldiers getting when they return from a combat theatre. Maybe I missed it but I haven't noticed a great number of grateful women throwing themselves at returning soldiers.
But I agree that the hero/warrior mythology is a powerful, imaginative lure for many young men. I expect it's in our genetic makeup; little boys, given the choice, tend to play violent games much more often than little girls and many of us manage to test ourselves with high risk physical activities. If we're not physically suited to engage in football, street fighting or similar activities then there's always being a poker or stock market warrior/hero.
We needed adrenalin pumping protectors in the past but in our more civilized times it seems like a pretty silly set of traits. I'd guess that a good argument could be made for the proposition that women ought to be empowered to make all the risk-rich important decisions but, of course, some of you suffer from the same malady we do.
On another subject, with respect to those who choose war for others, your loss of face analogy is thought provoking. If that choice does, in fact, give those war wimps face, I wonder what is it in our society that could create "face" for people whose "courage" required no more than opting to send others to kill and die? Ed |
