A retired gunnery sergeant says the Obama administration's idea to create a standard, unisex hat for the Marine Corps risks "masculinizing" women.
Right now, men and women wear gender specific hats. The new plan is to create one hat for both men and women that's thinner and flatter.
While some people say the hats are too feminine for male soldiers, retired Gunnery Sgt. Jessie Jane Duff, a member of Concerned Veterans for America, says it's the other way around.
"I really do think that this is about masculinizing the women. We have had standards changed left and right with this administration," she said Thursday on
Fox News' "The Kelly File."
"We are looking at women in the infantry, we are looking at women doing male physical fitness tests at some point. We are looking at women becoming men."
Duff says the new design is appalling.
"Women need a distinct identity," she said. "We are the fewer and the prouder, why would you want us to blend in with the men?"
Duff isn't the only one bothered by the new design. Comments from Marines have poured into the Marine Times website, most of which criticize the design. Others, including Duff, say now isn't the time to worry about changing uniforms.
"I’m appalled that the Department of Defense finds that gender neutral uniforms is their priority right now," Duff said. "Meanwhile we aren’t able to pay the death benefits of our marines and soldiers killed on the battlefield last week during the shutdown."
If approved, the new hats would be the first major uniform change in more than 90 years, Fox News reported.
According to The New York Post, the hats will cost $8.2 million. Keeping the traditional caps would be cheaper, by about $284,000.
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