I'm not really sure why I took such a long break. I know I didn't really think about it much when Ben was gone those 6 weeks in the summer...and then we've just been getting back in the swing of things. I'm ready to start posting meals/talking/sharing pictures from our adventures.
I'll start this off with something funny.
35 Negative Military Spouse Stereotypes:
35) We are fat.
I'd say 90% are.
34) We are lazy.
Again, 90%.
33) We pop out a ton of kids.
Eh, I wouldn't necessarily say that. I will say that military families tend to have kids super early on..and sometimes it's a way to solidify the relationship. Saw that a lot in Clovis.
32) We don't have our own identity.
Most do not. They define themselves only by what their husbands do and by their children. It's hard to get to know anyone, because everything about them is very shallow. No depth.
31) We don't care about our appearance.
The KMCC at any point can look like a Walmart. The people waiting for the bus with their kids before and after school...they are still in pajamas and messy hair. What do they do all day? Why do they not care about showering?
30) We care too much about our appearance.
Day after payday is the day to avoid the KMCC. The Coach/Michael Kors/LV/Chanel/etc...purse section is filled with women grabbing a new designer purse. Same goes with shoes and makeup as well. Yikes.
29) Officer spouses are snobs.
I can't really comment on this one as I've only really spent time with one officer spouse and she was very sweet.
28) Enlisted spouses are uneducated.
Unfortunately, the majority of what I see are women who got married really young, popped out some kids, and aren't trying to further their educations after high school.
27) We wear our service members rank.
Totally accurate. Spouses will assume that because their husband is high ranking, then they deserve the same reverence from everyone.
26) We are whiners.
There are people complaining about there not being anything to do here in GERMANY. I have asked some of them after hearing this, and they admit to NEVER leaving the base. They shop, eat out, live, etc...on base. They never get out and see the magic right outside the gate checkpoints. Pathetic. If you can't be happy here, then you probably won't be happy anywhere.
25) We have a sense of entitlement.
I get so tired of seeing women on the spouse pages on facebook complaining and expecting businesses and the whole country of Germany to bend over backwards to suit their needs. It's just infuriating.
24) We are incompetent during deployment.
I can't say much to this as I had help during the 1 year long tour when Ben was in Korea and I haven't seen too many people alone during deployments.
23) We are free-loaders.
I would say a lot of the ones who got married young and quick are more likely to be this way...but the mindset still follows them as they grow older.
22) We don't want to work.
The most work I see spouses do out here are home based businesses like Scentsy, those stupid "It Works!" wraps (that don't work, obviously), and DoTerra stuff. Rarely do you find spouses that work outside the home. I don't know if it's a "don't want to" work (although there are a lot with that attitude) as it is a I have to leave my job every 2-3 years so it's hard to get something permanent.
21) Our marriages are doomed.
The marriages that came from the spouse wanting to just be married to a military man or the shot gun wedding style marriages probably won't last.
20) We are unfaithful.
I saw WAY too much of that in Clovis. At least 5 people that my husband worked with who were also in relationships or married were also posting their profiles on plentyoffish.com to find women to hook up with.
19) We thrive on drama.
This is true for 99% of military spouses. If I wanted to spend the day doing so, I could post the fights and craziness that I see on the spouse facebook pages. It's funny and also really sad.
18) We knew what we were getting into and should stop complaining.
I don't think that's too fair. I mean, that can be in any situation in life. Just because you know what you're getting into doesn't mean that it's easy or that you're not allowed to complain. People complain about their jobs every single day, but they decided to work there, so should they stop complaining? Sometimes you don't have a choice and it just sucks.
17) We are coattail riders.
This kind of goes around with not having your own identity and wearing your husband's rank.
16) Our behavior or appearance negatively affects our spouse's career.
Oh, 100% it does. I knew someone in Clovis who got stripes taken away (meaning less pay, lower ranking now) because his wife was making fake myspace profiles to harass another spouse. He got into big trouble, and his wife continued to do so.
15) Nothing we do can affect our spouse's career.
See #16.
14) We are all right-wing conservatives
Here's another stereotype, I think it's more Army/Marine that feel this way. I haven't seen much of that in the Air Force. More hate and contempt for the president and what not from people in the Army/Marines that I know.
13) We are swingers.
ha, I hadn't heard this one before.
12) We are all submissive.
I'd say (at least in the Air Force) that most of the time, the spouses (mainly women) bowl over the men at home. The guys are in charge at work, but I've seen some of the spouses be pretty emasculating when it's just them.
11) We all sell Scentsy, Thirty One or Mary Kay.
Yep. You can get 30 people trying to sell you scentsy from one facebook post.
10) We think we can demand anything from our spouse's command.
Yep.
9) We are all threatened by female military service members.
I have heard some spouses taking some pretty nasty gossip about female service members that their husbands work with. Jealousy fuels that.
8) We are all women.
98%
7) We buy Coach purses instead of diapers for our children.
I wouldn't say INSTEAD of diapers, but I will say that those Coach purses are darn important to a lot of spouses. Status symbols.
6) We are welfare Queens/Kings.
I don't know anyone on welfare, but I do know people on WIC. I think that should say more towards the pay that we get instead of a negative reflection on spouses.
5) We eat Bon-Bons.
No.
4) We wear tons of military gear because we think we are also in the military.
If I could go the rest of my life without seeing another boudoir style photoshoot wearing something military related, I would be happy.
3) We are gossips.
98% of spouses get energy from gossiping about fellow women. It's toxic.
2) We con Tricare into giving us breast implants.
Yep, I've heard people talking about how to do it too.
1) We married them for the money.
I wouldn't say for the money (because we really don't make that much), but I will say for security and not having to work is a big deal to a lot of spouses...esp the young ones.
