I was drawing in one of my sketch books and found myself drawing some of the old navy uniforms that made me think back to my childhood. As school age children, my neighbors and I would pretend to be in the Navy and have battles against one another. It also reminds me of my father calling me in after playing outside for hours. The boys I played with were tough but I could always keep up with them. I never had any trouble keeping up and they never treated me differently because I was a girl. The uniforms are similar to what I imagined us wearing. I thought about how we would run across the lawn pretending to be on our ships. I remember thinking, as I played with those boys, how I am no different than them and that I enjoyed these games over the toy dolls tucked away in my dresser at home. I do not talk about this time in my life to anyone else except my brother, occasionally, because it is sometimes too difficult to think about my father. Although my father’s passing is difficult to think about, this picture of the navy uniforms brings out a happiness and simplicity that few things do. It brings me back to the pretend ship deck where the boys and I were both equal and all that was important was for me not to be taken out by an enemy. Back then, life was simpler. There was no pressure to be lady-like or get married and raise children, how the traditional woman looks now. All that mattered in that moment was to keep the base safe.
Editorial Commentary: Mary Erle's entry reveals more personal details about her life and way of thinking. The picture she drew is like memorabilia from her childhood and the joy that it brought here can be seen by how much she wrote just about her love of the game she played outside with the boys and the emphasis she puts on the simplicity of it all. At the time that Ms. Erle was growing up, the Royal Navy was not active in any wars, however, it was going under many changes at this time. New technologies were being developed that would enhance the strength which fascinated young boys specifically. Many of Ms. Erle and her peers’ parent’s generation may have remembered a time when the Royal Navy was active, however, the next generation only knew an inactive, but idolized, Royal Navy. Ms. Erle’s father passing away when she was a child was quite difficult for her. A few times she mentions her father and how it is not an easy subject for her to bring up showing that this is still a sore spot that was never healed for her. One main focus of this entry is emphasized in her reflection of her feelings that she had when playing the Navy game. She did not feel that the differences in gender between her and her playmates changed the dynamic of the game. The boys did not think differently of her because she was a girl. At that moment, it was the two sides fighting against each other. Towards the end of the entry she alludes to the gender roles of women. Based on her writing, it seems she believed that the traditional expectations are learned, not innate. Even though she felt like one of the boys, looking back, she knew most girls played inside with their dolls, not outside in the yard. The dolls “tucked away” in her dresser at home also showed from a young age, Ms. Erle was not traditional. She did as she pleased without worrying about what others thought of her, which, at the time, most women focused on fitting the mold built by the gender expectations.
Citation: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Royal Navy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2020, www.britannica.com/topic/Royal-Navy.