A Changing Military
The co-cultural communication
theory, “describes how language works between dominant and non-dominant--groups or co-cultural groups” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p. 241). To continue into this theory further, the
dominant groups are the ones that create the system of communication in the
world, which “supports their perception of the world” (Martin & Nakayama,
2012, p. 241). The non-dominant groups
are often forced to adhere to this “standard” system of communication. This means that the non-dominant groups will
either conform to the norm or maintain their own system of communication. A strong part of communication between
cultures is labels. Labels “acknowledge
particular aspects of our social identity” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.
245). This means that they describe a
persons’ identity. These labels can also
be negative as described in our text, “many times, these labels are spoken
without any knowledge or understanding of their meanings, origin, or even
current implications and can demonstrate prejudicial feelings” (Martin &
Nakayama, 2012, p. 246). There are many
labels perceived as “negative” and this is partially due to the fact the dominant
groups are making the rules for non-dominant cultures.
In our society there are many labels
put on homosexuals. Some of these labels
are accepted and others are opposed.
Labels are a powerful part of every culture. Within the military, many negative labels are
passed around as positive ones, showing your “comradery” among one
another. Certainly in many cases the
receivers would not agree or appreciate these kinds of labels. However, there are very many kinds of labels,
such as “friend”, “lover”, “boss”.
Having said that, labels are very powerful in the sense that they
“communicate many levels of meaning and establish particular kinds of
relationships between speaker and listener” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.
245). As a member of the Navy I have been
thrown into an enormous amount of culture.
This has required me to use many different communication styles among my
coworkers. Whether it is service members
from all parts of the world, or with all kinds of practices and beliefs, being
exposed to such a diverse atmosphere is a culture shock. There is an enormous amount of “labeling” in
the military. These labels start from
nicknames and go all the way to the most offensive things you could imagine. However, being in the military, there is a
certain amount of unspoken acceptance, no matter how you are “labeled”. The power of labels in the military can be
summed up mostly in comradery, and in some cases can be described as
discriminatory. It is quite normal for
your friends and coworkers to use derogatory and negative labels between each
other but it is accepted as joking around.
These power in these labels are potentially the reason for change.
When
the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was repealed, there was not a major amount
of outcry within the military. As far as
DADT, it seemed to me, being apart of a dominant cultural group within the Navy
(white, male), that people having to hide their homosexual identity wasn’t a
big deal. Everyone knows for the most
part who is, and who is not gay, despite not being able to express it. On September 20th, 2011, the
policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed.
Most were uncertain of what would happen, and how to react. In an article posted by CNN, the opposition
to the repeal stated, “it would "break" the U.S. military. And
according to a leading advocacy group, over "528,000" servicemen and
women would be lost” (Singer & Belkin, 2012). However, this was certainly not the
case. In fact, a New York Times article
read that the repeal “has had no overall negative impact on military readiness
or its component dimensions, including cohesion, recruitment, retention,
assaults, harassment or morale” ("A military success," 2012). This truly shows the positive effects of
co-cultural communication. We have the
culture of the traditional military collectively working to improve conditions
for a non-dominant actor (homosexuals). The
ability of a non-dominant group, such as homosexuals in the military, to
overthrow the system created by a dominant group. In terms of communication, it is easily
recognizable that the success of this repeal is the accumulation hard work and
making sure all members are aware that discrimination of all types are unacceptable. There is still a long way to go as stated by
the OutServe Organization, “By repealing DADT, the country and the military
have taken a significant step towards equality for all who want to serve their
country in uniform. But there are other discriminatory policies in the military
that the repeal of DADT does not change” ("Dadt:
Before and," 2013). As far as
benefits such as, housing and surviving spouse, among others, it will require a
lot of communication and, in turn will eventually become corrected. It is important to be aware of social
positions in terms of language and intercultural communication because
depending on the level of power of the speaker, (dominant/non-dominant member)
the outcome of the communication will vary.
What if the repeal of DADT was not followed by immediate training across
the entire military by the Secretary of Defense, and within the Navy, the
Secretary of the Navy? There would
potentially not have been as much success with this transition. 
References
A Military Success Story. (2012,
September 15). The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/opinion/sunday/a-military-success-story.html?ref=dontaskdonttell
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural
communication in contexts (6th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Singer, P., & Belkin, A. (2012,
September 20). A year after dadt repeal, no harm done. CNN . Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/20/opinion/singer-belkin-dadt-repeal-anniversary/index.html
Great topic to cover! Very timely and relevant. I also appreciate that you brought in your own experiences. It really added to the blog.
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