Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attempts to revise fitness standards to put male and female soldiers on equal footing seem to have backfired, according to a new report. Last year, Hegseth introduced new sex-neutral fitness standards that sought to eliminate sex-based grading for combat soldiers on ...

Last year, Hegseth introduced new sex-neutral fitness standards that sought to eliminate sex-based grading for combat soldiers on the military’s physical fitness exam. That exam includes a 3-mile run, push-ups or pull-ups, and an abdominal plank. When the standards were announced, some analysts worried it could lead to fewer women enlisting.

But a new report from The War Horse, a nonprofit newsroom, suggests that Hegseth’s new standards were not making the military more masculine, as he seemed to hope. The report found that 90% of female Marines in combat roles who took the fitness test passed or exceeded expectations.

  • grte@lemmy.ca
    23·
    20 hours ago

    That exam includes a 3-mile run, push-ups or pull-ups, and an abdominal plank.

    I mean, that’s not much of a physical exam. Pretty much any person who isn’t physically limited in some way could achieve this level of fitness in a short time. I knew these fascists didn’t think much of women but I didn’t realize they thought they were totally physically incompetent. You really thought that women couldn’t jog for three miles? Or do a plank? haha