Forget Battling Bare for a moment. That is not what this is about. This picture was posted by Sgt. Grit’s FB page and within 11min had 30 comments, most of which were a debate. The first comment was a woman pissed off that the woman in this picture has the EGA on her back. It is likely not a tattoo, but drawn on her with the words. The point being that this Marine wife is standing by her husband.
However, this simple comment about how this wife has “not earned the EGA,” has sparked a lively debated in the comments section. The debate is twofold. 1. Only service members have the right to wear this type of stuff in ink on their bodies. And 2. That somehow the EGA is equal to his rank and that wives have not earned that.
I will weight in briefly on my thoughts, but am curious as to how you all feel about this woman’s statement (in the comments, not the picture and Battle Bare, that has been debated to death already) and the debate it’s self.
I do not feel that I have earned my husbands rank by any stretch of the imagination. He has fought wars for that rank. He has seen things I would never care to, done things I can’t even think off and been through hell and back. His rank is 100% his alone and I have no right to argue it, wear it on my body or clothing and definitely no right to throw it around like it entitles me to anything.
*** I was brought to my attention that I failed as a writer to also include that rank is earned through a lot of ways other than deployments. Signing the contract, doing your job well, bootcamp and experience, among other things, are all ways to earn rank and are just as valid as any other way to earn rank. I apologize if I have offended anyone in my poor choice of wording. Every military service member has earned their rank, and rightfully so. I still stand that spouses are not included in that, but appreciate that I did not express this well and I’m sorry.
That all said, I have zero issue with wives wearing things like the EGA. I have a necklace with it and USMC wife shirts and such all that have it on them. My husband takes no issue with this (heck, he bought most of them for me). It’s a matter of pride. Would I get it tattooed on my body? Probably not, but I don’t have any tattoos and the EGA is not high on my list of things to get permanently inked onto my body. But I guess I don’t wholly see how having the tattoo is any different than the hundreds of other things that spouses wear to show pride in the life we lead. A T-shirt, a bumper sticker, a tattoo, what is really the difference? I’ve seen the insignias from every branch of the military etched onto anything that will stand still for sale on bases. Grandparents, spouses, kids, nieces, nephews, you name the family member and there is some type of item for sale, just for them, with these insignias on them. So, I supposed, I don’t see the issue with a tattoo… And to be clear, the Marine Corps puts their insignia on EVERYTHING! LOL! You’d be hard pressed as a spouse to buy something that DOESN’T have the EGA on it. So maybe that is why my opinion is what is it. It’s very common place as a USMC spouse to have EGA stuff all over everything. Heck, you can buy barstools with it on it. But I digress…
What are your thoughts? Is it ok to tattoo this type of thing on your body as a spouse?
– Please be respectful of me and each other if you are going to voice your opinions. Any hurtful or mean remarks will not be posted.
