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Monday, February 13, 2006

Gay Jodies 
I was with Mickey Kaus until he came up with this wierdo passage:

Marines use the idea of "Jody," the mythical civilian back home who is screwing your girlfriend/wife, to get soldiers committed to battle. The trick might not work so effectively on Marines who are less hot for the women back home than the men in their own units. No doubt other tricks could be developed to motivate gay Marines.


http://www.slate.com/id/2136045/&#breakoutmeme

Jody helps get Marines committed to battle? Baloney. In the real world, Jody does a lot to undermine readiness. Soldiers focus much better if they know things are ok on the home front.

Jody isn't something the Marine Corps invented. Jody existed long before there was a Marine Corps. Jody spirited Helen away from Troy and sparked the war that launched a thousand ships.

The reason he exists in song and story is because there's a Jody story in every company, and because there's no candycoating it or avoiding it - it's gonna happen. (Now it's much more interesting because soldiers wives and girlfriends can email film clips of themselves having sex with their new boyfriends. I wish I could say hilarity ensues. It doesn't.)

Jody exists in song and story because since there's no way to avoid it, you might as well write a marching song about it, and enjoy a few rueful, self-deprecating laughs. Soldiers and Marines are terrific at that.

And no, Mickey, there's no reason Jody can't be gay, too.

Splash, out

Jason

Comments:
Jason, Jason, Jason...

you should know by now that there "ain't no use" in correcting anybody about Jody. Jody's got a Slate column, too.

-Jeff B. (who sang about Jody in the Air Force)
 
Do people really email clips of themselves cheating on their husbands and boyfriends? That's just sick.
 
Why Jody? What a strange name to pick.

Ironically, when my husband's division was gone, lots of the "Jodys" were Marines.
 
I should clarify that my husband is Army. That's why it seemed ironic to me.
 
jennifer asked, "Why Jody? What a strange name to pick."

No one knows but that's the way it's always been. Better yet, it works with
female troops in the ranks as the name "Jody" is unisex. There's a good article
about them here from the US Army:

http://www.army.mil/soldiers/june95/p52.html

-Jeff B.
 
Hey thanks, Jeff. Interesting article.
 
the vulgar and sexist language that made up many early jodies became a no-no after the mid-1980s. Gills agrees that off-color jodies can be more divisive than unifying.

That's just lame...
 
"Ain't no use in looking back. Jody's got your Cadillac..."

Damn. He must be with some other dude's ole lady, cause I ain't got no Cadillac. Remember, "Jody can't take anything away from you...he can only GIVE YOU MORE."

Figure that one out.
 
No one knows but that's the way it's always been. Better yet, it works with female troops in the ranks as the name "Jody" is unisex.
 
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