Women Joining the Army
ATTENTION! Why shouldn’t women be allowed to join the army? Does gender matter? Ask yourself these questions when you think about it. Why does it matter? In America only 214,000 women serve in the armed forces and they only make up “15 percent of active-duty military personnel, working as medics, intelligence officers, and police, and in other non-combat roles.” According to the article, no women have served in actual combat roles. Which is completely absurd. Anyone should be able to fight in combat if they wish, no matter what ethnicity, gender, or race. The physical traits would still have to remain the same however so that it is still equal to join the army.
Joining the army is a tough task, reserved for the best in physical shape, mentally capable and strong willed. There are lots of women that have made a difference in the war such as the women that became medics and helped out wounded soldiers. You can’t forget the Margaret Corbin named “Molly Pitcher” for when she took her husband's place working the cannon against hessian troops until she was too injured to fire the cannon. There are many other women that did very well in the army as well such as the three women, Shaye Haver, Kristen Griest and Lisa Jaster, who
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It doesn’t matter if they’re a women or not, on the inside we are all the same. We all eat, sleep and care for our country. All they are trying to do is help protect the country they love the most, America. If we are denying their request to even voluntarily defend their own country, America doesn’t even seem like a free country anymore. Think about all the things that women have achieved over the years such as the following: They gained the right to vote, Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic Ocean, and there was a woman elected by Ronald Reagan himself to serve on the Supreme Court, and now we also have a woman running for
The military is trying to find new ways to recognize the fact that women now fight in the country’s wars. In 2011 the Military Leadership Diversity Commission recommended that the Department of Defense remove all combat restrictions on women. Although many jobs have been opened for women in the military, there is still 7.3 percent of jobs that are closed to them. On February 9, 2012, George Little announced that the Department of Defense would continue to reduce the restrictions that were put on women’s roles. The argument that “women are not physically fit for combat” is the most common and well-researched justification for their exclusion from fighting units. It has been proven if women go through proper training and necessary adaptations, they can complete the same physical tasks as any man. Though there seem to be many reasons from the exclusion of women in the military, the main ones have appeared to be that they do not have the strength to go through combat, would be a distraction to the men, and that they would interrupt male bonding and group
Women should be allowed in combat roles in the armed forces because they are just as capable as men. To begin, women such as Shaye Haver and Kristen Griest, graduates of the Fort Benning Ranger School, have shown that they can meet the same physical requirements as men. Nevertheless, these women still weren’t allowed to serve in combat positions despite the rigorous training they completed that involved grueling obstacles they had to complete all while carrying 100-pound gear. Does that make any sense to you? It didn’t to me and it certainly didn’t to women like Sgt. Patricia A. Bradford who said “If you have to be able to lift a certain amount of weight in order to do a certain job, then the weight is not going to know whether you’re male or female.” (Women at Arms: On the Ground.). In fact, in some instances women have proved to be even more
Woman were important during World War II because the men were fighting in war so women had to fill in the jobs and roles of the men. There were advertisements to encourage women to take the jobs of the men, the women joined nursing corps and armed forces so more men could be sent into battle. Nobody wanted women to join the military but after the attack on Pearl Harbor, they decided to let women join the Army, Navy and Coast Guards.
With society’s past and present it is apparent that women are still not equal even if they have the title. Men are observably stronger and have a different mentality in situations than women. This is not to say that women should not be in the military but they should have the choice that way they can accept the responsibility and train themselves mentally and physically to achieve the responsibility and respect needed to fight for our country.
One of the more significant roles that women played during the civil war was that of a soldier. Both Union and Confederate armies forbade the enlistment of women, so those that wanted to enlist, crossed gender boundaries and disguised themselves as young men and assumed masculine names. This war was not only a man’s fight, but it was also a woman’s fight. Female civil war soldiers, like the male soldiers, lived in camps, suffered in prisons and died for their respective causes. They were wounded prisoners of war, and killed in action. Going to war was strictly by choice and they were all aware of the risks involved. Many had never fired a rifle before much less contained the understanding of the army way of life, but nevertheless, they still managed and some were very successful.
female recruits at that time. *The average woman available to be recruited is smaller, weighs less, and is physically weaker than the vast majority of male recruits. She is also much brighter, better educated(a high school graduate), scores higher on the aptitude tests and is much less likely to become a disciplinary problem*. As the military modernized and weapons grew more sophisticated, education and technical skills became important. This development opened up more military jobs for women, including some combat-related jobs. For example, women became Army transport helicopter pilots and were assigned to nuclear missile sites. The rapid increase in military technology as well as changes in the whole concep...
Some people say that women should be in the draft because nowadays, men and women should be considered equal. With the advancement of equality in the American society, these people argue that the armed forces should not be excluded from the growing new reputation America is trying to get. Hence, those who support women being apart of the draft argue this point. According to “Update: Women in the Military”, women have become way more involved in the army (1). From this, supporters of women joining the draft argue that their involvement in the draft should also reflect on their increasing involvement in the army. However, those who are opposed women being apart of the draft argue that equality within men and women is an unrealistic mindset. This is proven in the New York Times with Catherine Rampell’s when she writes “Women earn 92.2 cents on the dollar of what men earn” (1). This is a statistic from 2011 that shows people that complete equality between men and women has still not fully been reached. Furthermore, those opposed women and the draft argue that if America has not completely reached full equality within the genders, then neither should the army. Both of these articles bring up good points about why women should either be in the draft or not in the draft.
While women may not have fought in the war, they were still exposed to the brutality of the war. “Women knew the presence of military always meant the possibility of rape or physical humiliation” (Berkin, 2005, 39). “Loneliness, poverty, fear of starvation and the possibility of rape and death at the hands of hostile invading troops” (Berkin, 2005, 52). Most of the women that made this choice were from lower rings of society. These women followed behind soldiers carrying baskets on their backs filled with supplies and carried children in their arms. Even in the cool air they
Some don't get what they want in life by being a nurse. They want to fight for their country, and be as equal as men. In training woman work just as hard, if not much more, than men. Some people are physically not made for this job, but not only woman. In order for woman to be as equal to a man she just has to work harder in pre training and in everything physically. If a woman is not up for the challenge to be a strong and productive as she possible can, then she will not sign up for the service. A Sargent wouldn't allow someone to be put into combat who wasn't ready. If a woman works and goes through training as she is required to, then comes out of it in the physical shape she is supposed to, then she has earned her rightful spot in combat.
According to Dictionary, “Feminism [is]: the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” Throughout history, women have fought the traditional viewpoints of the roles of women and have pushed past an abounding amount of boundaries. However, one blistering topic that is still being fought over today is, if women should be allowed in every aspect of the military. Since being allowed to join the military during World War 1, females have progressed through the ranks until being forced to stop when it comes to joining the elite groups of every branch. The controversial question that many military women face is, “If they wish to join these elite groups and meet the qualifications, why should we stop
The act of enlisting in war has been seen as an honorable task since the establishment of the military and its different branches. To take pride and to fight for one’s nation is the true meaning of being an American citizen. Like with every decision made in life, enlisting in the military has consequences. The act of war is often unpredictable and many measures are taken into count. These soldiers therefore, entrust their life to the military. However, what most soldiers never take into consideration before enlisting is the fact that a majority of them will be subjected to a form of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. Sexual abuse and harassment that occurs within their own respected military group. These soldiers get in trouble for reporting
Since the creation of the Selective Service Act of 1917, the role of a woman has evolved from the common role of a housewife, teacher or nurse. Now women have access to and are equally able to join many different career fields that were once gender based. The case Rostker v Goldberg 1981 debated whether or not women should be excluded from the Selective Service Act. Congress came to determine that “since women are excluded from combat roles in the Armed Forces, then they are not similarly situated for the purpose of the draft (Rostker, 1981)”. According to the Army Times in 2012, “The Army will start placing women in as many as 14,000 combat related jobs (Tan, 2012)”. So now, women are able to pursue combative careers in the military.
Lastly there are some concerns that society has about women in combat. It is implied that men can endure a lot of strenuous physical activities were as a woman may not. For example, there may be an issue were a fellow solider may need to be carried to safety, a woman opposed to a man will probably not be able to handle this strenuous task, and because of that standard may have to be lowered to accommodate female applicants, therefore making it easy for anyone who might not be fit to fight in combat roles accepted into those positions. There is also a fear that women can be captured by the enemy and be tortured. This a fear of both men and women but because women are at risk of encountering a misogynistic enemy the chances of rape goes up.
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.
Should women be allowed in the military? My answer was at first a resounding “no.” However, once I started my research, my opinion changed. In 1948, Congress passed the combat exclusion law that prohibited women in the Air Force, Marines, and Navy to hold combat positions; however, the Army can assign these duties as they see fit (Schroeder). Some people assume that Americans are not ready to see a woman wounded or killed in war; however, there are female police officers that are wounded or killed daily (Schroeder). How can we rationalize that a woman has the right to die protecting our local communities but not our country? If a person chooses to be in a combat field, and can pass the physical demands required, gender should not be an issue. The arguments of physical differences and cohesion among the troops are valid arguments but not substantial enough to prevent women from serving in frontline combat roles within the military.