Women now comprise 14 percent of the active-duty Armed Forces of the United States. That figure is up from 1.6 percent 25 years ago (Christian Science Monitor 1998:20). In 1948, President Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act which formalized the role of women in the military. Under the law, each branch of the service was allowed to appoint one woman Colonel (Byfield, 1998:02). Now, there are numerous women who serve as Generals and Admirals. They comprise all components of the forces including serving in combat units and aboard ships. It is hard to measure whether their integration into the services has been a success or a hindrance. Generally, when looking at the issue, one should consider the effect of the integration on defense readiness, unit cohesion and morale.
The contributions of women to defense readiness are in a number of areas. Women occupy diverse positions in the armed forces. A large percentage of women work in the areas of health care, administration, personnel, and supply. In fact 44 % of all women in the military serve in the health care field (Rabkin, 1999). More and more women are entering nontraditional fields such as aviation, surface warfare, air traffic control and field artillery (Rabkin, 1999). From 1992 to 1998, for example, the number of marine flight officers and pilots increased from 0 to 62 (Rabkin, 1999). Similarly, the number of enlisted army women in field artillery increased from 32 to 122 during the period 1992 to 1998 (Rabkin1999).
Basic training for women has been an ongoing issue for the military in terms of physical readiness. Military experts think that softening the training for women fails to transform them into physically fit, skilled soldiers who are supposed to be prepared for the demands of duty. They also think that accommodating women undermines the warrior spirit that draws young men to the military.
The dropout rate for women is higher than for men. This can be attributed to the demands of physical readiness and coed training. Women fail to fulfill their commitments to serve in the military in all branches of the military. Leading the dropout rates are white women with an average rate of 43%, followed by black women at 33% and Hispanic women with 31% (Park, 1999:08).
The possibility of women becoming prisoners of war is evident. One case in point is that of Melissa Rathbun-Nealy a military trained truck driver.
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
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.
There is a problem with women’s view of gender identity in post communistic Eastern Europe. In the post-communism era there has been a promotion of gender difference rather than equality, where the status of women has regressed. There has been a lack of availability for economic opportunities and female representation in politics. These issues are addressed in the articles; ‘Incorporating Gendered Identities into Transition Studies,’ ‘Women in Post-Communist politics’ and ‘Feminism and Post-Communism’ and I will investigate the reasons why women are confused of their role in society post-communism.
In 1973, women began to grow in numbers in the All-Volunteer Force implemented under President Nixon. “In February 1988, Department of Defense (DoD) codified the Combat Exclusion Policy by adopting the ‘Risk Rule’”, (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) pg. 21, 22. The change of the feminine role in the civilian population has forced a review of their presence in the Armed Forces. These roles reviewed after the onset of the Exclusion Law in “1967 when the statutory strengths and grade limitations were lifted” (…GOA, pg 4) as well as in 1978 when positions available to women were expanded (…GOA). In 1992 and 1993 when the “Defense Authorization Acts were implemented, congress revoked the prohibition of women’s assignments to combat aircraft… and in January 1994 the ‘Risk Rule’ was rescinded” (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) pg 22. With the 1994 change in the “Risk Rule”, assignments were available for females in all services to participate in all available positions. Exceptions of “assignments to units below the brigade level whose primary mission is direct ground combat” (the DoD Combat Exclusion Policy) pg 22(ibid) were put in place.
The first reason that women in the United States Navy have proven that they do belong is because many women have overcome gender-based biases. In Brian Mitchell’s book ‘Women in the Military: Flirting with Disaster’ he clearly states his opposition of women being in the military. “Forthe opponents of integration, the requirement that the authority of the service ‘must be exercised within a program providing for the orderly and expeditious admission of women’ meant that there would be no ‘survival of the fittest’ in the admissions process: the services were compelled to admit some women one way or another.” He believes that women are not worthy of being admitted to the services and that it is a requirement forced upon the services to select amount women.
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 oppose women being apart of the draft argue that equality between 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 to women and the draft argue that if America has not completely reached full equality within the genders, then neither should the army.
When it comes to combat assignments and the needs of the military, men take precedence over all other considerations, including career prospects of female service members. Female military members have been encouraged to pursue opportunities and career enhancement within the armed forces, which limit them only to the needs and good of the service due to women being not as “similarly situated” as their male counterparts when it comes to strength or aggressiveness, and are not able to handle combat situations.
Britain played a huge role in the potato famine, not so much in finding a cure for the potatoes but trying to help the Irish from starvation. Some people have argued that the British deliberately let the Irish starve to death, but others argue that they were unaware of the situation at hand. After the Napoleonic War ended Britain set “corn laws” to keep agriculture a healthy business. These laws set high tariffs on imported foods. (Stork) These laws were good and bad for Ireland, because they were able to sell their crops for a good amount of money, but it distracted them from the industrial side of things that would’ve given jobs to the poor during the famine. (Stork) Once Sir Robert Peel received the information about the hunger, he sent 100,000 pounds of Indian Corn to America, which was cheap enough to not effect Britain’s economy, but fed the Irish. The problem never was supply as much as demand, because most Irish had no corn to sell which left them with no money to buy the corn or other food imported. Once Prime minister Lord John Russell was elected, who was a conservative who believed that things should be left and nature will do its thing. He immediately stopped the importing of cheap corn and other grains (the only thing most Irish could afford) which left many families with no food...
Rueschemeyer, M. (1998) Women in the politics of postcommunist Eastern Europe. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
Throughout the summer of 1942, nearly 300,000 Jews were deported from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka death camp. During this summer, a resistance organization known as the Z.O.B. was formed. It was headed by the 23 year old Mordecai Anielewicz, and was comprised primarily of young men. The deportations halted in September, and the Z.O.B. began collecting whatever weapons they could manage to smuggle into the ghetto. In January of 1943, the deportations resumed. While the Nazis expected that everything would go smoothly, as it always had, this time they were surprisingly met with resistance. As they were conducting their roundup, the Z.O.B. attacked. After a couple of days, the German troops had killed many Jews, but were forced to retreat, giving the resistance fighters the drive to continue resisting. They began planning, strategizing, and preparing for a full scale revolution. On the night of April 18, 1943, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto received word that the Nazis were planning a final roundup of the ghetto for the next day. The Z.O.B. did all they could to plan for the next day. They arranged hiding places for the Jews of the ghetto, and assigned fighting stations for the members of the resistance. On the next day, April 19 of 1943, the Nazis came in to conduct their final roundup, and the most famous armed resistance of the holocaust began (ushmm.org). The German troops entered to find empty str...
Ruby, J. (2005, November 1). Women in Combat Roles: Is That the Question?. Off Our Backs,35, 36.
Both men and women fought on the battlefield. Hundreds of women served as nurses, laundresses, cooks and companions to the male soldiers in the Continental Army.6 In addition, there were some that actually engaged in battle. Seeing "no reason to believe that any consideration foreign to the purest patriotism,"7 Deborah Sampson put on men's clothing and called herself Robert Shirtliffe in order to enlist in the Army. "Robert Shirtliffe" fought courageously; "his" company defeated marauding Indians north of Ticonderoga.8 There is also the valiancy of the water carrier Mary Hays, otherwise known as Molly Pitcher, who took up arms after her husband fell.9 As a six-foot tall woman, Nancy Hart was considered an Amazon Warrior. Living in the Georgia frontier, this "War Woman" aimed and, with deadly accuracy, shot British soldiers who invaded the area.10 Mentioned in the beginning of this essay was Margaret Corbin, another woman on the battlefield.
The story of America’s military woman can be traced to the birth of our nation. During the American Revolutionary War, the 18th and 19th centuries, where women served informally as nurses, seamstresses, cooks, and even as spies and were subject to Army’s rules of Conduct. Though not in uniform, these women shared soldier’s hardships including inadequate housing and little compensation. Women have formally been part of the U.S Armed Forces since the Inception of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In 1973 the transition to the All-Volunteer Force marked a dramatic increase in the opportunities available for women to serve in the military. As of September 30, 2009, the total number of active duty women in the U.S was 203, 375, and women made up 14.3 percent of the U.s armed forces (Robinson). Women are a crucial role in c...
Patten, Eileen, and Kim Parker. "Women in the U.S. Military: Growing Share, Distinctive Profile." Pew Research Centers Social Demographic Trends Project RSS. N.p., 22 Dec. 2001. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. .
Skaine, Rosemarie. “Properly Trained Servicewomen Can Overcome Physical Shortcomings.” Women at War: Gender Issues of Americans in Combat (1999). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Thomson Gale. University of South Alabama Library. 15 July 2006 .