The US Navy has introduced unisex uniforms that will be implemented starting next year, according to a new policy ordered by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.
Under the new policy, the unisex "Dixie Cup" or enlisted white hat will be worn by E-6s and below next April, according to Military.com.
Female sailors will also be allowed to carry bigger purses but these will have to match their shoes.
"Having service members don the same headgear is symbolic of a Navy that is gender-blind," according to Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Navy spokesman. "We have been working hard to design covers and uniforms that improve uniformity across the force as well as improve the function and fit of sailors' uniforms."
He said several wear-tests have been done and sailors' feedbacks were incorporated in the final uniform designs.
The Alternative Combination Cover (ACC) and current male combination cover for officers and chief petty officers can now be used by men and women in service dress uniforms.
According to the Navy, officers and chiefs will be required to wear either the ACC or the current male Combination Cover by Oct. 31, 2016.
Starting Oct. 1 next year, the Recruit Training Command will begin issuing re-designed Service Dress Blue (SDB) uniforms in jumper style for both men and women.
The jumper will feature a side zipper while the slacks will have a front zipper.
By the fall of next year, men and women recruits at boot camp will be given new SDBs that will end the female version of the "crackerjack."
But the change does not sit well with some people.
On Military.com, user Flathead said, "20 years from now people in our country won't even know who to have sex with."
"We used to call this cross-dressing. Our senior military leadership have obviously bought into the pop-social theory, espoused by today's progressives, that gender differences are a result of experience and cultural conditioning," according to OldNavy207, reported WND.com.
