What would you expect from a story about women in the Army?

[mish2mash]

I'm about 20 thousand words into a military themed story series, which has got mixed reviews on the site.

I'm wondering if it's because I'm not delivering what readers are expecting when they start a story described as being about female soldiers. Obviously, I had very specific ideas in my own mind but, I'm starting to suspect they're not ones likely to be shared by a wider readership (or else it’s my lack of writing ability)

I'm starting to revaluate the whole series, and I was wondering if people could people here could describe what they would expect from a story about women in the Army?

 

[alohadave]

Obviously, I had very specific ideas in my own mind but, I'm starting to suspect they're not ones likely to be shared by a wider readership (or else it’s my lack of writing ability)

Tell us what your ideas are. It's kind of difficult to say what expectations for women in the Army as a general statement because all kinds of people are in the Army. It's just like regular civilian life in that it takes all kinds.

 

[Ovidius]

I can tell you about the women in my army. They get shit done and they are way more direct than civilian women.

In my neck of the woods a soldier has no gender, so there are no separate quarters or bathrooms for them. They sleep in the same tent and shit behind the same bush as the dudes.

Think of them as any women, only 30% better.

 

[mish2mash]

Are you a male or female? I wonder how you handle the female POV if you're a guy. In any event, just like with any story, I would appreciate details, a bit of plot, and plenty of sex scenes that fit with the setting. Maybe a tryst in the barracks, or the sexual tension between a new recruit and a sargeant, or the home sickness and missing of a boyfriend back home and how that plays out around other women. A smidge of character development helps the sex scenes hit harder for me - one woman's opinion. As noted above, you should write what you like and don't skip the details and sex!

I'm male and the female POV didn't come easily to me, I wrote a separate story with purely male POV's (which was easier) and that got even worse responses, so I've switched back to the original.

I tried to create female characters that have real world motivations even though they're in a far fetched situation. So they're motivated by wanting to advance their career, and just trying to do their job even if what they're being asked to do is warped.

To give an example of a smaller plot line one of the things I wanted to do was to demonstrate tension between Female Officers and Other ranks, which I've always felt was more pronounced than for male soldiers. However I don't think I did a good job of explaining it. I tried to describe life in the troop lines, interaction with male superiors, peers and subordinates. One scene included a female officer having sex with an enlisted male, and trying to make sure that he still respected her authority afterwards.

Tell us what your ideas are. It's kind of difficult to say what expectations for women in the Army as a general statement because all kinds of people are in the Army. It's just like regular civilian life in that it takes all kinds.

The plot basically is that a group of scientists and Engineers have been imprisoned by the government. The government can keep them imprisoned but they can't motivate them to work on a top secret project. A group of female soldiers who are based on the facility start to use sex as a means of controlling them.

A key point is that soldiers aren't sluts, or nymphomaniacs they're doing it because they think it's the right thing to do, and actually I think it was this that turned a lot of readers off.

 

[LupusDei]

For a view on women in army, that may differ from the fast popular misconceptions, look for women in videos from the war in Ukraine.

There's much of anything.

Like this extreme cuteness.

There's that popular girl who drive a self propelled howitzer.

Then we have this one, on the results of the artillery battery's under her command handiwork
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgF2Ej9WAA8E7bB?format=jpg&name=medium

Or that woman who gave up a seat in Rada (the Ukrainian legislative body) to become anti-tank rocket complex operator (famous as such on her own right too).

Or that Mariupol policewoman who retreated to Azovstal, and her husband, an acclaimed medical doctor, flew in from Kyiv with one of last helicopters that got try. She's back from Russian captivity (I'm unsure right now about the fate of her husband), as is the singing military medic from the same bunch.

So on and on. Ukraine have a lot, perhaps second most women in their military (after Norwegian).

 

[gunhilltrain]

The Soviets had many female soldiers during World War II. That fit in with the Bolshevik idea of relative equality of the genders. The Germans had an almost completely opposite view.

Soviet soldiers

 

[DarkSollat]

Depends. Are you writing serious story with sex scenes or pure smut?

 

[mish2mash]

The Soviets had many female soldiers during World War II. That fit in with the Bolshevik idea of relative equality of the genders. The Germans had an almost completely opposite view.

Soviet soldiers

The Soviets started removing women from the Army as soon as the war ended.

Depends. Are you writing serious story with sex scenes or pure smut?

It's a serious story but perhaps the plot is a bit far fetched. I've posted the first 4 parts on the site.

 

[DarkSollat]

The Soviets started removing women from the Army as soon as the war ended.


It's a serious story but perhaps the plot is a bit far fetched. I've posted the first 4 parts on the site.

I don't exactly dig the premise enough to read too much, but I think those are some ideas who could play well both dramatically and erotically:
* What about people they left home? Mostly their lovers, boyfriends, husbands... Without the affection from them, they have to seek it elsewhere.
* What about being suppressed lesbian while all-female environment bringing this back?
* What about a lost of comrades in arms? They need someone to share the pain.

 

[docgbrown]

What would they expect from a story about women in the Army? They deal with much the same issues plus more; If they are deployed OUTCONUS, they will garner more sexual attention then they are accustomed to INCONUS. SOME women will be as aggressive as the boldest of males in hitting on them. The straight girls will group together just as the gay ones. The married will hang with the married and the singles will hang with the singles. The loved ones left behind are likely to cheat while they're gone. Unlike the male counterparts, the females will be hit up for 'situational relationships' Irregardless of their relationship status at home or their rank/grade. The coworkers they have, both male and female, will likely be more suggestive than tolerable in civilian circles. If away from men long enough even the straightest servicewoman will eventually turn bi. Singles with hook up with singles, marrieds will hook up with marrieds and while gays will hook up with gays, straight women will usually only go with 'straight' women and men.

Those on watch will use their night vison gear to watch the sexual antics of the desperate without interruption. The women usually only sleep with higher ranking or positions. The women will often assume the sexual liaisons will help them but usually happens is disappointment in that area as their partners often overcompensate to hide the affairs.

She will strive to be equal unless REAL physicality is required and then they will vanish or prove useless. In stationary or non-combat affairs they will be competent but as soon as you put a pack on their back or get shot at, they are suddenly 'sick bay commandos' and ineffective. There are exceptions but those are RARE.

If she is captured, she will be raped, A LOT. She will be raped in front of her fellow captured male coworkers, one at a time. The captures will use violence on the men but rape and sexual politics for everything on the women POWs. The captures will be CONVINCED that she was the unit whore and put out to ALL of her unit or she would never have enlisted.

 

[sirhugs]

I can tell you about the women in my army. They get shit done and they are way more direct than civilian women.

In my neck of the woods a soldier has no gender, so there are no separate quarters or bathrooms for them. They sleep in the same tent and shit behind the same bush as the dudes.

Think of them as any women, only 30% better.

which makes them 80% better than the male soldiers? and 69% hornier?

 

[LeeKee]

Are you a male or female? I wonder how you handle the female POV if you're a guy. In any event, just like with any story, I would appreciate details, a bit of plot, and plenty of sex scenes that fit with the setting. Maybe a tryst in the barracks, or the sexual tension between a new recruit and a sargeant, or the home sickness and missing of a boyfriend back home and how that plays out around other women. A smidge of character development helps the sex scenes hit harder for me - one woman's opinion. As noted above, you should write what you like and don't skip the details and sex!

Yes and no. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum. Mostly good. Some good with drama. Others so-so without drama, other I had no real use for. And this covers officers and enlisted. The officer drama was just hard to listen to because I expected better instead it was sometimes worse. Same can be said about male Soldiers. People are people and people fill ranks.

 

[geronimo_appleby]

Yes and no. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum. Mostly good. Some good with drama. Others so-so without drama, other I had no real use for. And cover officer and enlisted. The officer drama was just hard to listen to because I expected better instead it was sometimes worse. Same can be said about male Soldiers. People are people and people fill ranks.

pretty much spot-on.

 

[davion2308]

If I hear 'women in the army' I'm expecting to have some kind of military exercise, weapon-handling, training scenarios, or them doing army shit. Putting women in uniforms and then having them do normal, everyday things is going to be disappointing. We need at least one tank, an explosion, and some push-ups in there.

Co-ed showers, ala "Starship Troopers" are optional, though preferred.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Yes and no. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum. Mostly good. Some good with drama. Others so-so without drama, other I had no real use for. And this covers officers and enlisted. The officer drama was just hard to listen to because I expected better instead it was sometimes worse. Same can be said about male Soldiers. People are people and people fill ranks.

A short documentary about women in the Soviet Army during World War II and how they were treated by the Germans when captured. Not well, obviously.

Interesting perhaps, but I don't see any material that would fit on Literotica.

 

[mish2mash]

During WWII the Germans captured a single female US servicewoman, an officer who was on a plane that strayed off course and crashed behind German lines. Within weeks the Germans sent her back via Switzerland.

 

[gunhilltrain]

During WWII the Germans captured a single female US servicewoman, an officer who was on a plane that strayed off course and crashed behind German lines. Within weeks the Germans sent her back via Switzerland.

Well, the Germans must have figured that they had enough trouble with the United States already; they didn't need to add it it. The Russians/Soviets were an entirely different matter; they were to be killed, enslaved, or exiled in the plans of the Germans.

A scene from Downfall with Soviet female soldiers at the end of the war. The German guy is Johannes Hentschel, who stayed in Hitler's bunker to keep the power generators going even after the Fuehrer was dead. The dead children at the end are those of Joseph and Magda Goebbels, who poisoned six of them before committing suicide themselves. Pure evil to my mind, but Goebbels was at least as bad as Hitler.

I don't know how accurate this is, but I think it comes from Hentschel's accounts after the war. Warning: some pretty gruesome scenes here not for the faint of heart.

Great movie by the way; highly recommended. Hentschel was released by the Russians in 1949, which is pretty lenient compared to what happened to other Germans.

 

[sirhugs]

During WWII the Germans captured a single female US servicewoman, an officer who was on a plane that strayed off course and crashed behind German lines. Within weeks the Germans sent her back via Switzerland.

postage due?

 

[gunhilltrain]

postage due?

sirhugs, you can do a lot better than that!

 

[LupusDei]

In Ukraine, they have built trench saunas. Just saying...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I would suggest that you first of all write them as people, people who enlisted for the same reasons as their male counterparts, who have the same sense of duty, the same hopes and fears and so forth.

In my experience, there were definitely women in uniform who used their sex for personal advantage (be it sleeping their way to a promotion or dodging physically demanding duties). There’s some evidence that some female service members deliberately got pregnant so as to be sent home from Gulf One. Yeah, all of that, but relatively few.

On the other hand, there were a great deal more with a solid devotion to their country and their duty, a very professional attitude and physical courage by the bucketful. Professionalism comes from the heart, not the groin. Oh, and despite all the official policies, women had to work twice as hard to be considered half as good. Most of the women I knew had had their motivation pretty well screened by the time they got into any serious situations. They were used to going that extra mile.

Now write your story - good luck!

 

[mish2mash]

I suspect you're likely to run into a very vocal crowd of ex-servicemen who claim they were the heroes of ***** war "so you know shit, boy. Me and my buddies..." I can understand they'd have a jaded view of life and feel justified in letting everyone know their views. You'll never convince them.

From the little I know, commissioned women officers would be extremely reluctant, to the point of refusing, to shag a regular serviceman - there's too much for her to lose.

There was a good scene in Enemy at the Gates with Rachel Weisz: lying amongst sleeping soldiers they manage to quietly fuck anyway. I can imagine that - it was a honest piece of directing.

It happens all the time, the first female Captain of a Royal Navy warship got sacked for it. Female soldiers whether officers or enlisted almost exclusively shag other soldiers, usually in the same unit..

I would suggest that you first of all write them as people, people who enlisted for the same reasons as their male counterparts, who have the same sense of duty, the same hopes and fears and so forth.

In my experience, there were definitely women in uniform who used their sex for personal advantage (be it sleeping their way to a promotion or dodging physically demanding duties). There’s some evidence that some female service members deliberately got pregnant so as to be sent home from Gulf One. Yeah, all of that, but relatively few.

On the other hand, there were a great deal more with a solid devotion to their country and their duty, a very professional attitude and physical courage by the bucketful. Professionalism comes from the heart, not the groin. Oh, and despite all the official policies, women had to work twice as hard to be considered half as good. Most of the women I knew had had their motivation pretty well screened by the time they got into any serious situations. They were used to going that extra mile.

Now write your story - good luck!

I've already written it. Currently trying to find some bad punctuation in Part four that keeps causing it to be rejected!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I've already written it. Currently trying to find some bad punctuation in Part four that keeps causing it to be rejected!

Sorry, I thought you were looking for advice on how to progress from an initial start which has not received the reaction you had hoped for.

 

[mish2mash]

Sorry, I thought you were looking for advice on how to progress from an initial start which has not received the reaction you had hoped for.

Yes sorry, I should have been more clear. I've been working on the series off and on for a while.

There's 'subversion of expectations' and then there's 'failure to meet expectations', one of those applies to the series! Either way when people click on a story about women in the Army, I don't seem to be giving them what they expect/want.

 

[LupusDei]

Yes sorry, I should have been more clear. I've been working on the series off and on for a while.

There's 'subversion of expectations' and then there's 'failure to meet expectations', one of those applies to the series! Either way when people click on a story about women in the Army, I don't seem to be giving them what they expect/want.

Be sure to account for the inevitable: that those whom you mostly will hear from will be a very small minority of vocal naysayers irritated by something irrelevant.

You will never please everyone, and trying to do so will please no one. Select exactly one reader (that may or not be yourself) and try to please them and only them if you have to please anyone.