Mass Effect: Female Shepard realistic?

[TheEmptyRoad]

How likely do you all think that a female achieved an N7 Special Forces Designation?

From the Mass Effect Wiki: "The Interplanetary Combatives Academy, sometimes called "N-School" or "the villa," recruits officers from every branch of Earth's militaries to partake in grueling courses at Vila Militar in Rio de Janeiro. The trainees undergo brutal courses, content varied depending on how many times they have trained at the school.

If this is their first time at the school, trainees participate in scenarios experienced by the elite units of most land-based armies; a typical candidate may be in training more than 20 hours a day, leading small units into combat over hostile terrain with little sleep or food. Trainees who do well are awarded an internal designation of N1 and are invited to return. Those who return to the school focus on their combat class.

Subsequent courses--N2 through N6--are often held off-planet and include instruction in zero-G combat, military free-fall (parachuting), jetboot/jetpack flight, combat diver qualification (combat diving), close-quarter combatives instructor courses (combat instruction), linguistics, frontline trauma care for human and alien biology (first responder/combat lifesaver training), and assault procedures. Those with specializations may also attend specialized schools related to their field; forward observers may attend naval gunfire training and close air support courses; pilots and mechanized soldiers learn how to drive, maintain, and shoot from several types of vehicles and powered armor; communications specialists attend joint communications courses. Some known off-school training locations are Jupiter's moon Europa and Arcturus.

The highest grade of training, N6, provides actual combat experience in conflict zones throughout the galaxy. From day one, invitees are given basic gear, then separated and stranded on an asteroid with no nav data. The test ends when the last person runs out of oxygen. The first few are out of the program. If the trainee survives these scenarios in "admirable and effective fashion," they finally receive the coveted N7 designation."

Even with Gene-Modding I think it's unlikely for a Female Shepard to achieve this status, given how recent examples in the US Green Berets had to have the standards lowered just so they could graduate.

Am I completely off-base here? Is it more likely if she's Biotic, and thus has useful powers few others do? I ask this here since if I'd dared to ask it somewhere like BSNBoards I'd likely face 'moderation'.

[Element]

Odds are stacked against her. Even though from the description the training sounds a few rungs below of what happens in training for Tier 1 units irl, it's still enough to filter women. USMC did a study 10 years ago on female performance in battle relative to men, tldr it wasn't good. And that's the marines.

[SoLong]

Am I completely off-base here? Is it more likely if she's Biotic, and thus has useful powers few others do? I ask this here since if I'd dared to ask it somewhere like BSNBoards I'd likely face 'moderation'.

That would've been my standard answer. Biotics. Physical strength and stamina matters less if you can throw someone across the room by thinking it and wormhole across the battlefield.

Also I wouldn't dismiss the gene-mods (or mods in general) that easily. During Mass Effect 2 both versions of Shepard are already about as much machines as humans.

Edit: I should point out that the mods don't explain how female Shepard got to N7 in the first place.

[Vergil]

Beaucoup textoup

Too many words for an answer that's obviously no, a woman being strong and competent in a military setting is unrealistic.

[maidenhaver]

Am I completely off-base here? Is it more likely if she's Biotic, and thus has useful powers few others do? I ask this here since if I'd dared to ask it somewhere like BSNBoards I'd likely face 'moderation'.

That would've been my standard answer. Biotics. Physical strength and stamina matters less if you can throw someone across the room by thinking it and wormhole across the battlefield.

Also I wouldn't dismiss the gene-mods (or mods in general) that easily. During Mass Effect 2 both versions of Shepard are already about as much machines as humans.

Edit: I should point out that the mods don't explain how female Shepard got to N7 in the first place.

Yes, but the training would scale.

[Oyster Sauce]

Didn't read any of this but I support the genophage

[WhiteShark]

Also I wouldn't dismiss the gene-mods

If it were gene-modding, female Shepard's build would look pretty much the same as male Shepard's, but it doesn't. Women simply aren't physically built to withstand the same rigors as men are.

[Vergil]

Also I wouldn't dismiss the gene-mods

Women simply aren't physically built to withstand the same rigors as men are.

Femshep is built for something alright

[J1M]

The training sounds hilarious.

Chances are 100%. Humanity hasn't progressed past politically driven appointments in the future.

[Norfleet]

The highest grade of training, N6, provides actual combat experience in conflict zones throughout the galaxy. From day one, invitees are given basic gear, then separated and stranded on an asteroid with no nav data. The test ends when the last person runs out of oxygen. The first few are out of the program. If the trainee survives these scenarios in "admirable and effective fashion," they finally receive the coveted N7 designation."

This test might actually favor females: Females burn through oxygen at lower rates than males do. The entire "being in space" thing might similarly tilt the odds: In space, where resource consumption is at a premium, females burn through like half the resources males do, so any resource-endurance tests heavily favor females. Being in space may be very much similar to being in a submarine than being a marine. The only reason we don't have female submarine crews is simply because we don't have any existing tradition thereof.

[gerey]

The only reason we don't have female submarine crews is simply because we don't have any existing tradition thereof.

Imagine being so infected with the liberal mind virus that you think handing enough nukes to glass a whole country to a bunch of wahmen is a good idea. Just imagine the kind of scenarios that would go down with a bunch of women in uniforms locked in a steel tube, underwater, for months on end.

We'd get to see "Hunt for the Red October" actually happen, only they'd call it "Hunt for the Gay Rainbow."

I worry for the mental well-being of anyone that seriously entertains the idea that women belong in the armed forces, in any sort of capacity.

[Norfleet]

Imagine being so infected with the liberal mind virus that you think handing enough nukes to glass a whole country to a bunch of wahmen is a good idea. Just imagine the kind of scenarios that would go down with a bunch of women in uniforms locked in a steel tube, underwater, for months on end.

Honestly, submariners are already not normal. They already filter for people who can handle that shit, because most people CAN'T.

I worry for the mental well-being of anyone that seriously entertains the idea that women belong in the armed forces, in any sort of capacity.

I think the main argument against is not that there don't exist ones that can handle it, but that the cost of filtering is simply too high.

[rusty_shackleford]

submarines cause severe health issues for women, the ban was lifted because "rawr women stronk!" but only a couple stupid women have served on a submarine and probably require a bunch of specialized medical care.

[Red7]

Also I wouldn't dismiss the gene-mods

Women simply aren't physically built to withstand the same rigors as men are.

Femshep is built for something alright

missed opportunity for "krogan cock big"

[Red7]

i would say its acceptable if fem shepard would take path of like whore secret agent. all organisations use whore agents fishing for weak simp links in enemy structures.

so take away all shooting and make missions only about sucking lots of alien cock.

[Red7]

Females burn through oxygen at lower rates than males do.

nonsense. vagina panics and cant control its heart rate like males do. u can last up to around 30 mintutes without oxygen with proper conditioning, even i can do 3-4 minutes