First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy [Hardcover]

Sharon Hanley Disher (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1557501653 | ISBN-13: 978-1557501653 | Publication Date: March 1998 | Edition: 1

In 1976 eighty-one young women entered the U.S. Naval Academy, ending a 131-year all-male tradition. Now, one of those trailblazing women has decided to speak out about their experiences. She draws on journals and letters from the period along with recent interviews to present a dramatic and sometimes disturbing picture of the women's four-year effort to join the academy's elite fraternity and become commissioned naval officers. From the punishing crucible of plebe summer to the triumph of graduation, Sharon Disher focuses on two female members of the Class of 1980, each with very different personalities and experiences. Teenagers faced with issues still unlabeled in the 1970s - sexual harassment, eating disorders, date rape - the two take separate routes in their search for ways to survive the mental and physical challenges of the regimen and the psychological isolation of being a woman in a man's world. Disher is unflinchingly frank in her descriptions of the prejudice and abuse that they frequently encountered and which went mostly unreported and unpunished. A loyal navy supporter nevertheless, Disher offers a balanced account of life behind the academy's storied walls for that first group of women who charted the way for future generations of female midshipmen.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the summer of 1976, Disher was among the 81 women who were the first females to enter the hallowed U.S. Naval Academy. Disher stuck out the tough regimen and graduated with her class, then served in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps. Here, she recounts what it was like for that first group of Naval Academy women: "I write this book to document history," she states. Following the group on a near-daily basis, Disher reports not her own experience but that of two classmates, Sarah Becker and Kate Brigman. The women endure the predictable embarrassments and goofs at the hands of an institution unaccustomed to having females in its midst. They must announce their bra sizes to attendants passing out military-issue everything. They must march and run while wearing three-inch heels, and must endure the taunts of male classmates furious at having their bastion invaded. Eventually, Becker begins an illicit relationship with an upperclassman that could jeopardize their fledgling Navy careers. Rather than examine why two young people would place themselves at such risk, however, and what that meant regarding Becker's role as a pioneering female, Disher reports the affair in bodice-ripping detail: "He stood beside her, slim, tanned and shirtless.... She tried not to stare at the soft, thin line of hair growing from his belly button to the top of his fly...." The adventures of Brigman are accorded similar treatment. Neither of these women will feel repercussions from appearing in Disher's narrative, however. It turns out that Becker is a pseudonym, and Brigman is a composite character. This is a disappointing work, with too much adolescent fantasy romance mixed into its history.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In 1976, Disher was among the first female midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduating in 1980, she served on active duty with the Civil Engineer Corps for 10 years. She does not blow her own horn nearly as much as many will think she could, considering how much ignorance, opposition, and outright harassment she and the other women faced at Annapolis while simultaneously wrestling the normal problems of late adolescence with much less help than later generations take for granted. She survived, though, and remains committed to the navy and to expanding women's roles in it. Her book tends to support the navy's image as the most conservative service on issues of women in uniform. But it also shows that support for Disher and other women came from surprisingly many and odd places, and it affords a fascinating perspective on an aggressively all-male institution engaged in gender integration. Roland Green

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: Naval Inst Pr; 1 edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557501653
• ISBN-13: 978-1557501653
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lt. Sharon Disher, July 8, 2003

By 

Terrence N. Tallman (Whidbey Island, Washington State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy (Hardcover)

As noted in the two previous reviews Lt. Disher served in the Civil Engineer Corp.

I had the opportunity to work for her as a civilian employee during her tour as an Assistant Resident Officer In Charge of Construction at the Everett ROICC office during the initial construction of the Everett Hompeport, current home of the Abraham Lincoln Battle Group.

At that time we were just starting to see female officers in construction managemant. It was one of the many fields that had been strictly male up until the time that she came on board.

I was a GS-9 Construction QA and served as her eyes and ears in the field. She was the contracting officer and had final say on any changes to the projects we worked on and had final signature authority for any changes we made.

It was surprising for a lot of the contractors to be working for a woman, in any capacity. It was more surprising for most of them that she was a quick study, learned their projects as fast as they did and was at least as sharp.

I am about ten years older than her but that was common for me when working with Lieutenants. They tended to be kids in my eyes. I like to think that I had no preconceptions about working for a woman although I never had before.

I always found Sharon to be totally professional. She would listen when she didn't know a subject but she never let the contractors get an edge on her. She had strong people skills and never had to rely on "cute". She was always an engineer and a naval officer. In short she was a professional.

I recognize some of the stories in the book because they are ones she told when she shared an office with me.

This book was a hard read for me because I knew how many of the experiences were hers.

If you read this book be aware that while it states that the names are changed, it is often to protect the guilty, not the innocent. The acadamies are still a tough place for women to survive as we continue to see in the news.

It has gotten better though, through the courage and efforts of officers like Sharon Disher, who had to be better than her counterparts to survive.

I still consider her the best officer I worked for in 21 years of civil service.

Respectfully,
Terrence N. Tallman
Naval Facilities Engineering Command

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is an exact of what a USNA experience feels like., October 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy (Hardcover)

Being a 1998 graduate of the Naval Academy, I can completely relate to Mrs. Disher's views on this book. I have read it five times now and felt every emotion in the process. I am angered at the treatment and how it is still evolving. I am happy that there are women (like me) who laugh and keep a sane attitude on the Academy. I am also relieved that someone so qualified as Mrs. Disher wrote such a moving book for everyone, USNA grad and not, to benefit from. I have only been away from USNA for a little over a year now, and I can claim that everything that happened in this book either happened to me, or to a fellow midshipman that I graduated with. This book has been stereotyped as a "feminist" book, but this book is about the United States Naval Academy. I liked this book so much, my sister read it (USNA, class of 2000). In fact, I believe in this book so much, my face is on the front cover. To all those that doubt the power of women and men getting along to succeed in defense of this country...you need to read this book and understand that only through adversity comes strength. Thank you, Mrs. Disher, for being courageous and coming forward with your tales.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great, engrossing, insiders look, book, March 22, 2000

By 

Al Krieger - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Class: Women Join the Ranks at the Naval Academy (Hardcover)

Never having been to the Naval Academy, I was amazed at how they dealt with female classmates the first time around. This book gives you the day-to-day feeling of what it is like to be there and experience every order. I think that the author goes to great lengths to give you as much of the "hands on" feelings as is possible for each confronted situation. It is written in a diary set up, and covers obviously the most imp-ortant moments. I enjoyed the quick movement of the book, and the light airey handling of even the most embarrassing situations. These are real women confronted with an overwelming male oriented situation, along with a great number of men who have never had to deal with any women before. What happens is both funny, emotional and real. I would like to also deal a quick "good job" to the naval academy; who for all their formality, handled the first year with a minimum number of real complaints; and only a few real embarrassing or wrong decisions. I recommend this book for everyone interested in how a few determined women can stand up against tradition and the entire male student body of the academy, and still manage to graduate. My hats off to everyone in this case.