Doubts about Navy's equality move By Shelly Simonds When the Australian Navy last month announced that women would be allowed to serve on submarines for the first time, the ANU's Dr Katerina Agostino, who researches the role of women in the force, had her doubts. "Of course women can do it," she said. "But would they want to?" Dr Agostino, a research fellow in the Sociology Program in the Research School of Social Sciences, argues not enough has been done to change the masculine culture of the navy which makes it difficult for women to succeed. Male-only nude parties, pornography displayed in communal ship spaces and sexual boasting are part of this culture. "Women who are thinking of serving on subs need to be warned that they are entering a highly masculine workplace," she said. In order to survive and advance in such an environment, many women conform by turning a blind eye to nudity, pornography and sexist humour and even condemning other women who lodge complaints about sexual harassment. In 1992, charges of sexual harassment were made by three women serving on the HMAS Swan. Both male and female co-workers blamed the women's morality rather than sexual violence in the workplace. Dr Agostino said that the navy deals with women in the workplace by attempting to turn them into men, putting them in androgynous uniform, for example. "This strategy is doomed to fail because women obviously can't be men," she said. "And male colleagues find it difficult to respect a woman who tries to be something she's not." She suggested commanders should not side with the dominant male culture in sexual harassment cases and should allow women to look across ranks for support. There should also be spaces made available on ships for women. "If women can support each other and are given the right kind of spaces, it will show that the navy is serious about having women on board and not turning them into men," Dr Agostino said. "Mere numbers will not change the culture because it remains masculine to the core," Dr Agostino said. "I certainly wouldn't say to a women 'go in there - serving on the submarine is going to be great'. Women need to be aware that the only way to change things is by being political."