Invisible Veterans | Kate Hendricks Thomas | TEDxTuscaloosa
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ค. 2024
- Making the transition from active military duty to civilian life can be a challenge, especially when you're a woman. Kate shares how such challenges impact the health of military women when they become veterans using her own story as an example.
Kate Hendricks Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Charleston Southern University. She is a teacher, speaker, and writer. Dr. Thomas, also a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, helps businesses and military veterans optimize their performance through resilient leadership training. Her behavioral health research, published in journals like Best Practices in Mental Health, the Journal of Environmental Psychology, and Military Behavioral Health, has been praised as “masterful” and “constructive.” She lives in Charleston, SC with her wild toddler and the Great Dane who dotes on him.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
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Thank you for your service Dr. Thomas. And thank you for shining a light on a group that is overlooked. Semper Fi
Thank you, Kate Hendricks Thomas. You have brought light to a very difficult topic.
Thank you Dr. Thomas for your service. You are truly an inspiration and I pray that you continue to be the voice for those who have been forgotten.
Thank you Dr. Thomas for shedding more light on this issue. I feel there are many people that don't understand how difficult of a transition this all is. I have many friends in the military and have been able to see first hand some of the issues they face. Thank you for this!
Dr. Thomas,
I want to thank you for your service and for shining a light on this issue that really does get overlooked by many. They often overlook what women go through while serving and after. I'm glad you were able to acknowledge this and work through it. Its definitely in you to not ask for help and work through what life throws at you, in your own way and that is very admirable.
Such a strong voice advocating for a group that might get overlooked as needing it. I appreciate your perseverance and diligence in supporting change.
As a woman, most of this information doesn't come as shock. I know the usual, "travel in groups", "be aware of your surroundings", "park in lit areas", etc. This was very powerful and touching! I love the message, and your courage to publicly speak on this subject. I am shocked however that some of these things are things you have experienced.
Thank you Dr. Thomas for your service and an incredibly inspirational story! Many, including myself, unfortunately do not see or understand the struggles of transitioning from active military duty to civilian life. This is an issue than many do not talk about, and you shedding light is the first step in making a change. There needs to be more efforts, advocates and programs that help these women transition into a regular, civilian life. Thank you for sharing your story!
Dr.Thomas, I think that the points you made during your Ted talk are important to discuss and highlight in the military world. The experiences women veterans have are quickly increasing as the number of young women join the military every year. I admire the work you have put to advocate for "invisible veterans" and the struggles they tend to face that are commonly overlooked by those who may not understand or want to listen. As you mentioned, with the devastating increase in suicide rates seen within this population, there is a high necessity for support and assistance.
Dr. Thomas, thank you for your service to our country. Domestic violence among military women is not mentioned a lot. This topic defiantly needs more awareness. Thank you for advocating for the woman of the military. The transition from military life to civilian life comes with many hurdles as you mentioned. It such a unique idea to think that military women feel that being a "victim" means they are weak.The idea that one must fight to suppress their emotions or concerns.
Thank you Dr. Thomas for your service but most importantly thank you for speaking out through your own struggle as a vetern women. You have openned the doors for other women tos peak up and stay strong. Discrimination and harassment is very commob and we need to change that.
Dr.Kate, your message is very powerful and I am grateful that there are people out there advocating for female Marines. What I learned from the video is that now is the time to make a change in military life. Where women and men in the forces should be allowed to seek help professionally. I have friends and family who have/currently serve and have cried to me because its something they can't talk about. I enjoyed listening to your speech and gave me a sense of hope for the future. Semper Fi.
Semper Fi sister. Thank you for speaking about just a handful of issues we have dealt with.
This is an extremely powerful and important speech as it breaks the harmful norms of women not asking for help and of being silenced. To cease violence against women and improve women's health, stories need to be spoken. Vulnerability, although a challenge, impacts the listeners and those unable to voice their similar experiences. Thank you for sharing your story and for beginning an important and needed discussion.
Dr. Thomas your words are so inspiring and so elegantly stated. Thank you greatly for your service. It is amazing how at the time yes it can bother us but as we move forward, once we try to move passed it we realized how horrible it really was. Tell your story is so important, who knows how many other women survived sexism and issues in the military force and then in their civilian life suffered greatly. As a woman of color, finding social support is so difficult, crating visibility in the issues is so difficult, I could not imagine adding veteran to that experience. As women there is often the view of "what is hard" among some individuals, there are so many difficulties that come with life in general but adding, veteran, mother, women of color, etc.. to that makes creating the narrative even more difficult. To hear your story and your viewpoint along with statistics was moving and hopefully eye opening for others. I know that the sexism did not suppose me, nor did the "brush it off" mentality. It was good to hear that you and your strong sisters are working towards making those mentalities less and less acceptable. Thank you for doing what you do everyday and for all that you have done in the past.
Thank you for your service Dr. Thomas and for shedding light on the challenges that military women face. Thank you for also sharing the resiliency that military women demonstrate despite the many adversities that they have to face.
Dr. Thomas, I would first like to thank you for your service. Your message/story is powerful, and I am appreciative that I have been able to learn from you. Thank you for advocating for the women veterans. You are a great leader and a powerful advocate. Please continue to fight for what you believe in.
Dr. Thomas you are officially my new girl crush! To think of the strength and sacrifice you have is incredible and I truly admire all that you have done to pave a way for those behind you. When I volunteered at the DC Veterans hospital, I would always be amazed by the bond I saw among veterans who were in the same group but often noticed that their comraderies did not always extend to their female counterparts. This thought resonated strongly as I listened to you speak on your experience within the marines and the sheer injustice in it. One of the worst feelings one can face is to be a part of something and still feel left out. And especially in a setting where your team has to have your back, I cant imagine the inner strength one has to have to brave it through and come out even stronger on the other side.
Empowering video! A family member of mine works for a company that assists the Veterans Administration in multiple capacities. I want to talk to him now about if/how they consider women veterans when doing their work. This was definitely a new perspective for me and gave me a lot to think about. Thank you for your service and testimony.
Thank you for your service! I am honored to hear about your challenges and how you have overcome.
Thank you so much for your service, and your dedication to helping women transition to normality! Your work is not unnoticed and is super impactful to many who felt invisible.
Tell it Kate! I have been following your work and appreciate so much that you did this talk so that I can share it with others when I do presentations about what it is like to be a female veteran. Great job!
Thank you for sharing your story Dr. Thomas, and thank you for your service as well. This is a topic that is not talked about enough but it needs to be. More needs to be done to address the issues that service women face . I also believe there needs to be more programs for service women to access help as well as programs to help integrate them back into a civilian world, or wherever they are going to. The military world is still very male dominant so most focus is on the men returning home from active duty or how they can be helped or assisted as they retire from the military. The focus needs to shift to the women who serve because while they fight for us, it does not seem like many others are fighting for them. This is an incredibly important topic and I hope that by sharing your story, it will encourage other women to step forward and share theirs, and maybe this can help give the push that is needed for reform.
While the video discusses life issues and violence against women in the military, it remains a powerful and inspiring presentation.Thank you Dr. Thomas for sharing your experience and for your service. It is encouraging that despite all the difficulties you faced during the service, you continued to love your tribe and continued to be part of the tribe. It is so important that you share your story Like you said there are so many veteran women who have had the same experience and are often stay silent. Thank you for being an advocate for military women. I think support and encouragement is a big part in addressing this issue.
Thank you for the presentation! It was eye opening! While I knew about the extra gender inequality in the military services, I had no idea to what an extent. This was very powerful!
Thanks Kate, I will be sharing it with my niece and the hospice associations's Veteran's Honor group. Well said, congrats. Rita Sullivan Jensen, Kathleen's HS classmate.
Dr. Thomas, Thank you for your service and your speech was such an inspiration and wake-up call. When you said, “If you want to understand the veteran women, you have to understand that culture, that lifestyle”, it reminded me that everyone who wants to be an advocate for any group should be culturally competent, and also at the workplace people should be culturally competent to see other people’s point of view. If we don’t understand where someone is coming from, it is hard to understand their point as you mentioned. We as humans should be aware of our surrounding to better serve our people and have an inclusive country. Because “one represents all” (Ms. Thomas); when one hurts or fails, so does the group.
Rest in peace
Dr. Thomas, thank you for sharing your personal experiences and for shedding more light on the many obstacles that are impacting the health of military women, both while they are on duty and after as a veteran. One quote that stood out to me the most from your talk is in regards to how it is often hard to communicate and connect with others whom you feel don’t understand your life and/or your experiences. This is of course true for women in the military, as civilian life greatly differs from being in active duty, but it is also relatable to other aspects in life, such as in regards to those dealing with mental health (e.g. anxiety and depression). Moreover, another point that I found interesting from your talk is when you mentioned how the words “combat veteran” automatically brings up an image of a man. This shows how the presence of bias is still very prevalent within our society and as such, further contributes to the limited access to support that is offered to military women specifically. Thus, in order to begin addressing this issue and improve military women’s health, we must recognize and acknowledge the unique issues that women face through holding more discussions on the topic, and also begin to include them in the planning and implementation of veteran programs, which will help to make the programs more comprehensive and effective. Through taking more proactive actions, we can shine more light on these “invisible” veterans and help to improve their health overall.
Great talk! Thank you for sharing and thank you for your service.
Thank you Dr. Thomas, this was an amazing message. It is important to advocate the needs women veterans have that are often overlooked. You've truly overcome things that the average person couldn't deal with and its so inspiring to hear strong women share their challenges especially as a veteran. You have inspired other women veterans by speaking your own experiences. This is the first step to the needed change in military life.
Thank you, Dr. Thomas, for such an amazing presentation, discussion, and your service to this country. Your TED talk shares topics that happen very common to women. Discrimination, abuse, harassment, and violence are struggles many women have faced and still continue to face currently. I found it interesting how women who were in the military felt like they were a "victim" meaning they are considered to be weak. Creating awareness of these issues is important. Continuing to shed light and inform and advocate to combat this issue is key. Advocating for programs to be created to help military women transition back into regular life and help them get back into civilian life is important and helpful. Thank you for using your voice to share an inspiring story and bringing more attention to a topic that isn't talked about often.
I've just come across this Ted Talk from a Sociology course, and I must say that it was compelling and inspiring.
Dr. Thomas,
Thank you for sharing such an inspirational story of the lessons you learned transitioning out of your duties in the Marine Corps. In another speech given by you, you mentioned bringing awareness to the idea that we are all wired to connect with one another, yet the experiences you had as a veteran were so much different when compared to other male veterans. I believe it is caused by the image our brains associate the word with; a white male. There are millions of women that are no longer on active duty but our first thought when thinking about a veteran is an older white male.
Love the insight on your experiences and health advocacy Dr Thomas
June 12, needs to become our Federal Holiday! We need to be recognized, acknowledged and honored for our service. I am a Veteran.
Wow, goose bumps! Thank you, Kate Hendricks Thomas, for being a trial-blazer! You have pathed the way for future women in the military and started a very important conversation. Like you had mentioned, your story of discrimination, abuse, and harassment is far too common. We must change this narrative, and the first step is speaking out! Thank you for your service and thank you for being a strong and inspiring role model for future female vets!
This video sheds light on an issue many people may not be aware of. It is true that when people think of a veteran, the initial image that may come to mind is someone older and perhaps male. It's not someone's first thought to consider the young people and especially young women that may serve a term or two and then return to civilian life. It is an interesting dynamic to consider how women must conform to the norm of being tough in the military and then return to being soft and feminine in civilian life. I appreciate this video because I am currently considering joining the military to further my own education and experience.
I think our fear of falling into a "victim narrative" comes from the victim shaming culture in our society. That sort of mentality can affect us long term and effect the relationships we have in life. Your ability to break through those effects and the violence you experienced is admirable. Thank you for sharing your experiences and highlighting such an important issue.
When we talk about discrimination, abuse, harassment, and violence against women, it's common for many people to exclude women veterans because of the assumption that because they sacrificed their lives to fight for our country, they are tough enough to be able to overcome any situation they may face. Reality is that this isn't true at all. Thank you Dr. Thomas for your service and for using your platform as a woman veteran to speak out about such an important issue that needs to continue to be recognized! Your speech has opened a new understanding and perspective on the struggles that these women face, not only to those who aren't in the military but also to future veterans.
Like you Dr. Hendricks, I am passionate about continuing to serve my sisters in arms. I have a very ambitious plan to change the perceptions of what a veteran is. I would love to speak with you about it. I don't know if this is still checked, but I hope so.
She is telling the truth.
Love you Girl!
Powerful women!!!
It is so strange to think of how much women are willing to sacrifice to either fit in social circles or push against the narrative some of those circles contribute to. How the need to not be a “victim” led to repression of these concerns and feelings. It is also very telling of our current situation that this occurs.
What a great story thanks for telling your story Marine, God Bless and glad you dealt with your demons Lord knows we all have them as Iraq veterans.
I would like to see something of this nature started in winston salem nc I'm a vet and if I knew how to get in touch with anyone in this organization it would be very helpful