In the airborne community, paratroopers consider themselves to be better and manlier than their regular soldier counterparts. It is an environment filled with Type A personalities where everyone is in competition to be the best. Due to the macho nature of the airborne environment, the last thing any paratrooper wants to be considered is gay. In order to get by you must make sure that you walk, talk, and act in a different way from the gay stereotype (Kimmel 467). This was very important because the word gay in this environment is the antonym …show more content…
In the paratrooper community there is no room for questioning or second guessing. The task of jumping out of an airplane at 500-1200 feet at 136 knots is not a normal thing for humans to do. When the order to jump out of a plane is issued each paratrooper is part of a bigger plan so individual concerns are secondary to the mission. As sociologist Michael Kimmel stated in Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men one of the “Real Guy’s Top Ten List” items is to “Just do it”. While the ability to act is important there are other qualities a paratrooper must