An email, written by Army Col. Lynette Arnhart, was devised to advise Army spokespeople about how they should educate the public about the Army’s integration of women into combat.
“In general, ugly women are perceived as competent while pretty women are perceived as having used their looks to get ahead,” Arnhart wrote.
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The U.S. Army is drawing some unfriendly fire after recommending that photos of “average-looking women” should be used for stories about female soldiers.
“There is a general tendency to select nice looking women when we select a photo to go with an article (where the article does not reference a specific person). It might behoove us to select more average looking women for our comms strategy. For example, the attached article shows a pretty woman, wearing make-up while on deployed duty. Such photos undermine the rest of the message (and may even make people ask if breaking a nail is considered hazardous duty).”
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