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Female spies of MI6

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Re: Female spies of MI6

#111

Post by etrevino »

twic wrote: post #72
giantg2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah... not a good idea. That's the type of info you might divulge on your deathbed to adult children. Absolutely insane to tell teens while still working there.

I think there's a lot of misunderstanding here. A key thing to appreciate is that the women in this article, including Rebecca, are not spies . They are civil servants [1] working in a very sensitive area of government. None of them are undercover, or sneaking into Russian bases. It's a sensible precaution for them to keep quiet about what they do, but it's not like their ability to do their job depends on absolute s…

I think that just depends on your definition of spy. If you're thinking, say, Americans being undercover or sneaking onto bases (instead of using local assets to do it) then it would probably fall under the Special Activities Center, which is a subset of the CIA.

While you're right that these folks aren't undercover in the sense that their identities are known, that those identities are linked to an intelligence gathering agency is not known. A lot does happen out in the open and it always has. Being a member of the diplomatic service gives them protection when they're operating in a foreign country. You operate out of an embassy and if you're arrested they usually trade you back to your home country, because diplomatic immunity.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#112

Post by magneticnorth »

winReInstall wrote: post #45

Well, a women is treated equally only in the west, so per definition they can only spy as not honeytrap in the western society block. Everywhere else, its gonna be traditional.

>> per definition they can only spy as not honeytrap in the western society block

I find this a really odd statement, and certainly not something that follows "per definition"?

For one thing, one point made in the article is that the sources a spy might want to cultivate are often women. Especially places where women are less respected, they might be privy to plenty of private conversations while on the arm of a powerful man, and might be amenable to talking to another woman about it.

And it's certainly not the case that women are only viewed "traditionally" outside western society - China, India, and many other countries have plenty of female doctors, scientists, office workers, etc.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#113

Post by jcampbell1 »

draebek wrote: post #92
jcampbell1 wrote: post #57

I’m curious why this article was authorized. It seems they decided it would help with recruiting more than it hurts by giving away the element of surprise.

Do I correctly understand by your comment that you think there was a foreign intelligence service that did not already know MI6 employed female agents?

I don’t think foreign intelligence services knew MI6 considered female agents more effective due to it being less expected. I don’t think the public knew that MI6 likes to recruit outside the Oxford types. I think MI6 very much planned this article. Hope that clarifies my position.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#114

Post by mym1990 »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #110
PenguinCoder wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not me. I just want them to cut my hair. No talking, just cut.

Obligatory "I'm sure you're fun at parties". Honestly though why would anyone have this attitude? It seems like having a conversation with someone while getting your hair cut has zero downside, and the guaranteed upside both of you being a little more entertained. Possible upsides are actually getting into a meaningful conversation or stumbling on a new opportunity. Seems like a win-win to me.

Not everyone wants to be entertained 100% of the time. It feels weird to assume everyone should be a talkative person all the time. At the end of the day barbers are still doing a technical job, some of them probably would prefer to focus on the work as well. How do you feel when you are focused on something and someone is asking you pedantic questions?

Re: Female spies of MI6

#115

Post by northwest65 »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #110
PenguinCoder wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not me. I just want them to cut my hair. No talking, just cut.

Obligatory "I'm sure you're fun at parties". Honestly though why would anyone have this attitude? It seems like having a conversation with someone while getting your hair cut has zero downside, and the guaranteed upside both of you being a little more entertained. Possible upsides are actually getting into a meaningful conversation or stumbling on a new opportunity. Seems like a win-win to me.

As somebody with that attitude, it's because I find it quite zen just to relax and be groomed by a professional. I won't shut down conversation, but I won't initiate it either.

The other thing is that decades of motorcycling without ear plugs has rooted my hearing, so talking to people with thick accents (I'd say 50% of hairdressers here are immigrants) can't be tiring, which is the opposite of why I actually enjoy getting my hair cut. There's a nice Korean lady I sometimes see who chats away merrily, but I feel like an arsehole having to ask her to repeat herself the whole time.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#116

Post by blep_ »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #110
PenguinCoder wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not me. I just want them to cut my hair. No talking, just cut.

Obligatory "I'm sure you're fun at parties". Honestly though why would anyone have this attitude? It seems like having a conversation with someone while getting your hair cut has zero downside, and the guaranteed upside both of you being a little more entertained. Possible upsides are actually getting into a meaningful conversation or stumbling on a new opportunity. Seems like a win-win to me.

Because I... don't like talking to people? It's not entertaining to me, it's excruciating.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#117

Post by GlacierFox »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #110
PenguinCoder wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not me. I just want them to cut my hair. No talking, just cut.

Obligatory "I'm sure you're fun at parties". Honestly though why would anyone have this attitude? It seems like having a conversation with someone while getting your hair cut has zero downside, and the guaranteed upside both of you being a little more entertained. Possible upsides are actually getting into a meaningful conversation or stumbling on a new opportunity. Seems like a win-win to me.

Obligatory "You must be the person that doesn't stop talking to breathe at parties." Honestly though, some people just don't like nattering away and would rather just sit and relax for a few minutes.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#118

Post by klyrs »

frontman1988 wrote: post #67

How does spying by humans/agents even work these days? I can't imagine a british agent going around spying in North korea, China or even Russia, much less a woman. Cause if you get caught you are going to get tortured into oblivion. Hence most of these 'spies' are on a diplomatic visa to prevent getting disappeared/tortured and therefore most of their movements are easily tracked. Spying as an agent is probably the w…

> I can't imagine a british agent going around spying in North korea, China or even Russia, much less a woman.

That's funny, isn't it? Your prejudice here is very much the norm, which is why not all British spies look like Daniel Craig.

Re: Female spies of MI6

#120

Post by thatcat »

petsormeat wrote: post #89

> 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.

They were probably just flexing and thought they were impressing you or something.
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