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Female spies of MI6

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Re: Female spies of MI6

#81

Post by akomtu »

anigbrowl wrote: post #68
WaitWaitWha wrote: post #27

> For the first time ever, SIS officers reveal why women often make the best spies for our times I was unable to find where this was answered in the article. It also reads like the author relied mostly on novels, movies, and such instead on a the interview. Women spies have been around just as much, if not longer - Virginia Hall, Mata Hari, Jane Whorwood, Elizabeth Van Lew, Anne Dawson, Violette Szabo. Going even fur…

Usually fluff articles like this are a prelude to a recruiting push. MI6 advertises in the Economist and I think the FT.

I think it's a prelude to restarting the Bond series with a female character.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#83

Post by the_af »

martopix wrote: post #62
the_af wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The UK’s main adversaries today — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — are repressive societies with few women in positions of power." (I know this is from TFA, not written by you) At least Russia and North Korea have women in positions of power, so it seems disingenuous to lump them together with Iran, at the very least. I'm unsure about China now , but there used to be very influential Chinese women. Also, Russ…

Fair point, but in defence of the author, I think there's a huge difference between having some women in positions of power and the attitude that people have towards women in daily life. I can totally imagine a society in which certain women from privileged background can rise to power (if, regarding north korea, you're talking about Kim Jong Un's sister, that's a great example), and yet the assumption most people ha…

Yes, I was thinking of Kim Jong-un's sister.

Agreed that spies do not have "power" in that sense; I was just echoing the words of TFA and showing counterexamples.

Most armies of the world are sexist in any case, why single out the current adversaries of the West? Western armies are traditionally sexist as well. Yes, now there are some high ranking officers and even generals in some of the most modern Western armies -- meaning the general rule is still that sexism is rampant.

> yet the assumption most people have when they meet a woman is definitely not that she is someone powerful or to be wary of

Yes, but this seems to be the rule in many countries which are traditionally aligned with the West.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#84

Post by newsclues »

frontman1988 wrote: post #77
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These Spies “Run Agents”: recruit, train, hand hold, interview, debrief and analyse, pay/bribe and present the information from the traitors, drug smugglers, or other people with nothing much to lose. I’m sure there may be dangerous jobs but these days much of that can be done from friendly countries or even the office. [edit] list of roles from MI6 site: https://www.sis.gov.uk/intelligence-officers.html

How does the first step of recruiting the agents/local traitors happen? Most of the official spies who are on diplomatic visa are tracked 24x7 in countries like China/NK/Russia.

Identify Targets: access to intel + exploitability

Then build a relationship with them.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#85

Post by fit2rule »

implements wrote: post #54
pazimzadeh wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this feels like a submarine article

It’s certainly a PR piece - I wondered what the purpose was beyond the obvious and naive ‘getting more women into Intelligence’? Elsewhere there’s been news stories about British MPs complaining that the security and intelligence services have too high a media profile … so perhaps there’s some ‘push and pull’ going on behind the scenes.

No post body was provided.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#86

Post by conviencefee999 »

the_af wrote: post #80
elteto wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NK? Where do you see women represented in positions of power? Honest question. Kim Il Sung (or his son? memory is hazy) had a special all-female army unit that was his literal harem. I don’t think they value women very much, outside perhaps of nepotism.

Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's sister, is a woman in power in North Korea [1] (yes, probably because she is his sister, but she's no figurehead, and how else does one rise to power in North Korea anyway?) and is deemed by some analysts as a possible successor to her brother. This doesn't make it a rule, but it shows there are women with power in North Korea. Because it's such an opaque country to outside observers, who k…

Ironically there's a female only division in North Korea's army though it's claimed that they are comfort woman from South Korean sources that doesn't really seem accurate. Especially considering the statements made about being solely for Kim Jong Un and the fact that the same sources also go on to state how he exclusively only dates European models, which is also ironic when you consider he seems to be in love with his with who is also Korean. In which she is obese so it's hard to consider him choosing her for her appearance.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#87

Post by closewith »

PuffinBlue wrote: post #71
closewith wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, has to be the abbreviation for Quartermaster. Even the exasperation of the character in the movies is obviously based on the demeanour of every ageing CQMS in the British Army (he doesn't appear in the Fleming books, where there's only the Q Branch responsible for supply).

There is a little more nuance to it than you've stated here. A Quartermaster in the British Army is generally a commissioned officer, usually nowadays a Late Entry Officer (a soldier who has achieved the rank of at least Staff Sergeant I think, and then received a commission). Quartermasters are most often the rank of Major, but sometimes I've known them to be Lt Col (Pirbright Army Training Centre has a Lt Col for Q…

This isn't nuance - none of it is relevant.

Q in the movies (the only place he originally appeared) is obviously based on a CQMS someone knew and the Q branch in the books is almost certainly based on the abbreviation Q for the word Quartermaster in the Quartermaster's Stores.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#89

Post by petsormeat »

> why women often make the best spies for our times

When I worked as a secretary, I was amazed at how unguarded men are in front of women in the workplace, particularly those of us in lower status roles. They seemed to think we had no capacity for thought or language, and were safe background decor for any conversation. I really worry that foreign service clerical staff are treated appropriately.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#90

Post by giantg2 »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #38
etrevino wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can speak as someone who was in the same situation as the teens. This is about the time that the kids begin to cotton on to the fact that things aren't quite right. Really, this is the point at which the parent has to start lying (as opposed to saying something like "oh I work for the government") or trust to their children's discretion. The kids' entire raising up to this point has normalized strong patriotism and…

Other commenters hwre seem to think that everyone else in the family is an idiot and will never catch on, despite living together for decades. This will lead to family suspecting their mother of cheating or crime.n

"This will lead to family suspecting their mother of cheating or crime."

Generally not with the proper cover story. Stuff like working as a civilian purchasing agent for the military or other government agency provides an element of truth and can be strongly consistent with the realities of the true job. Travel for purchasing deals vs espionage, etc look the same for the family. Even better is if they actually are involved with the purchasing deals since it makes for a more solid cover.

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