The U.S. Marine Corps spent $2 million on a study as to whether or not they should drop the gender-specific salutations. Like when an instructor gives an order and the subordinate barks, “Sir, yes, sir!”
Is that demoralizing and inappropriate in this day and age?
The report says that some armed forces have already dropped the gendered salutations in favor of using rank and last name. So instead of “Yes, sir” it would be “Yes, Captain Underpants.” Or something like that.
The study found that much of the training material used was male focused and used male pronouns. That may be because less than 5% of the Marine Corp is female.
The study’s authors recommend the Marines remove these gendered items from protocol but it is not certain that they will. It is under consideration by an advisory council.
