Sorry, My Mom Says I Can’t Go To War

Cue “Fortunate Son,” grab your besties and hop on the next helicopter–Tiktok says us girls are going to war. 

Diego Acevedo

Now, this hypothetical looming “girl draft” is entirely based in misinformation. The rumor gained popularity through a TikTok created by Timothy James, a content creator who regularly posts videos about politics and economics despite having no apparent background in the disciplines. He predicts that since every branch of the military has not met its recruitment goals, women are soon to be drafted. 

This misinformation has surprisingly sparked TikTok’s newest trend, featuring photo series of photoshopped soldiers with “girly” things like Starbucks drinks and embroidered totes. The videos offer a comical critique of masculinity as the girls apply their makeup to gear up for battle. The “girl draft” has taken a humorous outlook on women being drafted into the military for a hypothetical World War Ⅲ. 

TikTok users like Andra B have eloquently explained how absolutely wrong James is, stating that U.S. defense officials have no plans to put forward a draft. In fact, the last active draft was the Vietnam draft over 50 years ago, which faced extreme opposition. Despite James’s attempt at fear-mongering, Gen Z’s response demonstrates that cynical, unhinged humor is the best medicine to defuse the scare factor of a potential draft. 

The trend includes various Spotify playlists to blast while the girlies drive tanks (hopefully without crashing into anything) with comments like, “My mom has to meet everyone’s parents before I go” and “If I wear a skirt will someone wear a skirt with me?”

While it’s not necessarily bad to find humor in an otherwise difficult situation as a means of processing, this perspective ignores the intersectionality of being both traditionally feminine and masculine and dehumanizes the actual death and pain that results from war. Gen Z wants to mentally detach themselves from the people making these decisions about war, and the only way for our generation to do so seems to be through TikTok. 

Although women have been able to serve in the military since 1948 and constitute more than 15% of the active-duty force, TikTok users are emphasizing that war is not traditionally a place for women. Masculinizing the military speaks to the age-old idea of violence and aggression being inherently male traits. 

The humor and absurdity shed light on the disconnect between societal expectations and the reality of women's roles in the military. In the end, we have preconceived notions of what it means to be a soldier and what it means to be feminine. To TikTok users, the two are mutually exclusive. In reality, they’re not. 

Some women who serve in the military are taking this trend in stride to combine our expectations with reality, showing the gossiping, hot girl lunch and “texting back bae” in their real Army lives. These activities are no different than talking with friends, eating lunch or messaging a significant other, but the terms have a girly touch to them that critique–or at least highlight–perceived macho notions of the military. 

The military is imagined to be a hyper-masculine place of brutality and bloodshed, especially since during times of war, women were expected to be at home waiting for their sons, brothers and husbands who went off to serve. But these users emphasize that the military is a place for the girls too–and us girlies are armed with our crop tops and Pinterest boards.