The brand-new VRT series Hertoginnedal gauges female representation in Belgian politics, but what is it like for women in other male-dominated fields such as the army? Sofie Ver Akker* (21) says it’s pretty awesome.

When thinking about people who work for the military, many people still picture the stereotype, muscled, showoff, macho-man who eats loads of spinach and hunts bad guys. But these days, the army is more of a reflection of our society. The diversity that can be found in society (gender, sexuality, ethnicity, …), can be found in the military!

Legislation and numbers

Women weren’t always aloud to work in the military. At first, they mostly worked traditional roles, if they were even allowed to work for the army at all. During that time, women were nurses or cooks in camps, but the ‘real’ labour was to be executed by men.  It wasn’t until 1975 that women could enlist as soldiers in the Belgian army.

Nowadays, women make up less than 10% of Belgian soldiers. Therefore, the army still remains a male-dominated field. In a 2022 episode of Durf te vragen, seven Belgian soldiers were asked if women can handle being in the army. They all reported that the army sees no gender and that women are equally accepted.

Veteran’s view

Nordine, one of the veterans that participated in the TV program, stated: ‘It’s not about our individual qualities, it’s about what we can do together as a team.’ He goes on to give an example: ‘If I can carry 30kg and a female colleague can carry 20kg, we are carrying 50kg together. I can’t carry 50 kg on my own, but together we can and that is the most important message around equality.’

Female voices in the army

Sofie Ver Akker confirms that there is no ‘I’ in army: ‘Many soldiers come from broken homes and they end up finding a new family here. We’re a really tight group.’ Sofie works for the navy and is therefore often at sea for weeks on end with only her colleagues to talk to, who are almost all males.

‘I work in a team that consists of 46 people and only five of them are women!’ Sofie says. While there aren’t that many women in the military yet, there really have been some huge improvements in terms of management. ‘There are numerous institutions or people to talk to when you feel unsafe or uncomfortable as a female soldier’, Sofie explains. She herself has made use of one of them already and she was helped immediately and things have changed for the better.

Thick skin

Sofie truly believes women do have a place in the military and most of her colleagues think so too: ‘Of course, there’ll always be men who find that the military is no place for a woman and there can be some real dirtbags. But in general, I have found myself to be pretty easily accepted into the group.’

The 21yearold does note how important it is to be a social and quite extraverted person: ‘If you want to be part of the group, you have to speak out. Timid girls or boys are laughed at in here, so if you want to work here, you really should have thick skin.’

The thick skin is needed when certain comments are made on your body or just you in general, but Sofie has made it clear to her colleagues that nothing is ever going to happen between them: ‘It is important to state that at the beginning and then they kind of stop seeing you in that way’, she says.

Unisex clothing

Sofie sometimes misses women in her team, even though she really loves her team. ‘There have been some occasions where I wished I had more women to talk to.’ The most annoying thing about the military being a male-dominated field, are the clothes. ‘Everything we wear is Unisex, but that means the clothes aren’t altered to female bodies’, Sofie explains. ‘The t-shirts are too tight around our chest and the pants are too low and have a low crotch.’

Sofie enjoys dressing up in her free time but has gotten used to the unisex clothing in the military, she says: ‘I sometimes am tired of our uniform, but it’s pretty comfortable and to me, it’s almost like I’m wearing my pajamas so I’m actually fine with it!’

*Sofie Ver Akker is a fake name. The real name is known by the editorial staff of 21bis.

Text: ©Elise-Charlotte Kindts
Image: ©Somchai Kongkamsri (via Pexels)