FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — An army colonel at Fort Leavenworth who was reportedly trying to advise the Army on how to attract more women to combat roles, has stepped down as director of the Gender Integration Study she was leading, after she offended women, and most especially attractive women.
In a message to Army spokesmen and spokeswomen, Col. Lynette Arnhart suggested that the Army needs to break its tendency to select nice-looking women for publicity photos.
She criticized one photo in particular which showed the woman wearing makeup while on duty.
Read: Politico article on ‘average looking women’ and see the picture
“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),” Arnhart reportedly wrote.
“In general, ugly women are perceived as competent while pretty women are perceived as having used their looks to get ahead,” wrote Col. Arnhart. ”
On Friday, Gen. Cone, Commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, accepted her resignation from that leadership role.
“In order to protect the integrity of the ongoing work on gender integration in the Army, Col. Lynette Arnhart agreed to step down as the gender integration study director,” wrote George Wright, deputy director of media relations.
“The comments cited in the Politico article were an internal email conversation. They were not an Army position,” Wright said.
FOX 4’s Abby Eden is following this story, and will have reaction to Col. Arnhart’s statements.
Tune into FOX 4 News at 9 and 10 for more.