In late 1990 and early 1991, thousands of American women marched off to the desert sands of the Middle East to serve in a war that brought women closer to combat than ever before. Although restricting women from occupying military jobs that would put them into direct contact with the enemy can be interpreted as a form of sex discrimination, as a female veteran of Operation Desert Storm, I believe that the restriction should remain as it is. Lifting this ban would not be a strategic move for the United States. Socially, our country is unprepared to allow women on the "front lines" because of situations involving sexual harassment, prisoners of war, mothers marching off to combat, and female draftees.
Sexual harassment is a tremendous problem in our society that for years has been hushed. But recently this problem has been brought to public attention, and the government has passed laws that make sexual harassment in the work place a criminal act. However, only futile attempts have been made at eliminating such misconduct in the military. The effects of the aggressive treatment that women experienced during Operation Desert Storm were noted by Elaine Connely, Executive of the Coalition for Military Readiness:
Then there were the sexual tensions that did not respond to bureaucratic mandates for professionalism in the work place . . . . There were many reports of illegal fraternization, genuine sexual harassment, and elevated pregnancy rate-all of which seriously affected readiness and morale. (Donnelly 41)
The readiness and morale of the soldiers in the Middle East were affected by this country's inability to treat women and men as equals. Some radical women's movement groups believe that until...
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...l with the fact that if women are allowed to serve in direct combat military specialties, then all women may have to be included in the Selective Service.
Works Cited
Donnelly, Elaine. "What Did You Do in the Gulf Mommy?" National Review Nov. 1991: 41- 44.
Elshtain, Jeaned Bethke. "Feminism and War." The Progressive Sept. 1991: 14-16.
Evans, Rowland and Robert Novak. "Women & Combat." The Augusta Chronicle Nov. 1992: A4.
O'Briene, Kate Walsh. "The Bottom Line: Coed Combat Would Not Improve the Military." The Augusta Chronicle 3 Dec. 1992: A4.
Schlafly, Phyllis. "Keep Women From Combat." USA Today 15 June 1992: A12.
Towell, Pat. "Women's Combat Role Debated as Chiefs Denounce Sex Bias." Congressional Quarterly 1 Aug. 1992: 2292-93.
Willis, Grant. "Commission Says a Woman's Place is Not in Combat." Army Times 16 Nov. 1992: 4+.
Paleolithic Venuses are prehistoric sculptures that are traditionally thought, by experts to be images that adore and glorify female fertility. There are three reasons why most historians who study the Paleolithic era support this traditional idea. One, most analysts only use a sampling of the 188 figurines and most of them are pregnant. Secondly, the name Venus itself conjures up the notion of fertility. Thirdly, most analysts assume that during the Paleolithic era that childbearing was something that was sacred and thus needing to be glorified with a statue. Rice offers an alternative point of view of the motivation for the creation of the Paleolithic Venuses. Rice's position on Paleolithic Venuses is that they do not solely represent women's fertility, but instead symbolize womanhood.
"Update: Women in the Military." Issues and Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 29 May 2007. Web.
Peach, Lucinda J. 2009. ``Gender and War: Are Women Tough Enough for Military Combat``. In Gender in Cross-cultural Perspective, 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 21-32.
A unique feature of the kabuki art, and possibly the most significant detail and in keeping with the kabuki spirit of unusualness, is the fact that it has no actresses whatsoever (Bowers 325). Male impersonators known as onnagata play all female parts. The players of the kabuki drama in its primitive stage were principally women, and with the increasing popularity of kabuki, many of the actresses began to attract undue attention from male admirers. The authorities felt that this would lead to a serious demoralization of the public and in 1629 the theatrical appearance of women was officially banned.
First of all, one must know just what the artist's intentions were for a painting such as Birth of Venus. At first glance it is obvious that the painting depicts a message of love, desire, and joy. However, if one looks closer into the contextual background they'll find this painting portrays much more than a simple Greek myth. For instance, because Birth of Venus was commissioned by Lorenzo Medici, some believe that this painting is also a metaphorical ode to the Medici family; that Botticelli chose this specific scene with these specific figures to show that the age of love and joy has been born from the Medici's rule. Whether his intentions are obvious or not, they certainly add to the emotional and also physical beauty of the piece as a whole. Botticelli's intentions are not the only thing that adds to this painting though. The principles and elements demonstrated in this piece are part of what makes it a
War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa Author: Joshua S. Goldstein
Ruby, J. (2005, November 1). Women in Combat Roles: Is That the Question?. Off Our Backs,35, 36.
Burke, Colleen. "Women and Militarism." Women and Militarism. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Web. 05 May 2012. .
Gender integration in the military has always faced the question of social acceptance, whether society can accept how women will be treated and respected in the military. Throughout the history of the military, our leadership has always sought ways in how to integrate without upsetting the general public if our females were captured as prisoners of war, raped, discriminated or even blown up in combat. My paper will discuss three situations pertaining to the first female submariner, fighter pilot and infantry graduate. I will also discuss some of the arguments that male military leaders and lawmakers opposed the integration of women: lack of strength, endurance, and the disruption of unit cohesion. I will end this paper with my personnel experience as a female NCO responsible for other female subordinates within my command and share some of their experiences while deployed in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The picture has many wholesome elements to it. Venus is only one example. The next wholesome element to the portrait is seen in the upper left corner of the picture. It is in this corner that Zephar and Chloris fly. Zephyr and Chloris are the wind-gods and they are actively blo...
I woke up to the bright sun in my eyes. I hopped up with so much excitement, hoping and praying that rain was not in the forecast today. I ran around the house and woke everybody up screaming, “TODAY IS THE DAY!”. I waited almost a life time for this day, PROM. In my head, I planned on making nothing but good memories. My friends and I was going to party until the sun came up. After losing a friend, I realized too much partying isn’t always fun.
Many agree, that in certain military occupations, women can function at the same level as men. The controversy about having women fighting with men in wars is the fact that they have a different physical structure, deal with stress and emotions differently , are more susceptible to injury and just don't have the killer instinct necessary to get the job done. Although the last statement might appear to be a stereotype, most women would not be capable of supporting the demanding rigors of war-like situations. It would be a great mistake to allow women in these stressful and dangerous situations.
Two weeks before the dance, my friend Joey offered to take me to my first high school party, and he thought a junior prom after party was the perfect opportunity. I was so excited that I ignored all the signs telling me to save a place for myself at the school funded party before the sign-up deadline passed. Unfortunately, I didn't come to that
more days till prom, I started to stress out I was worried that I wouldn't have all that I
Women were prohibited because many of the performers were cheap mistresses outside of the theater and because of fights among the actresses' courters (Graves 378, Johnson 1). The government thought this set a bad example and proclaimed that only men could perform kabuki. The restriction of females performing kabuki was a positive strategy because it stressed the significance of talent instead of attractiveness. In addition it emphasized acting instead of dancing (Johnson 1). Along with the ban also came the introduction of onnagata performers, or males that portrayed ladies. (Graves 378)