Losing Femininity: A GI Jane Story

The film G.I. Jane follows the story of the first woman who is selected to undergo a "test case" in the rigorous Navy Seal training. Her name is Lt. Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore), a Navy Intelligence officer. As a test case, she is not expected to finish the whole training which is physically and mentally demanding for both a woman and man. In the history of the training program, only 40% of the applicants make it to the end and become full-pledged Navy Seals. Against all odds including the suspicion on her sexual orientation as a lesbian which is a ground for expulsion in the training, Lt. O'Neil surprises everyone especially the skeptics. She becomes a member of the elite force of Navy Seals.

Did Lt. O'Neil lose her femininity during the training? Did she become one of the boys on the way of becoming a Navy Seal? These two questions cause me to revisit various scenes to answer the questions. I would argue that she lost her femininity during the training and that she became one of the boys.

Prior to her entry to the training, Lt. O'Neil had a boyfriend. They had a misunderstanding when she decided to undergo the training. Upon arrival to the training site and meeting the superior, she was obviously different among the rest. She was a woman in a wrong and man's place. And Lt. O'Neil felt and complained about having a double standard just because she was there with the rest. She asked and pleaded for one standard for all. To stress her point, she shaved her hair to look like the rest. Without her hair and in uniform, there was no trace of her being a woman in the training.