Women are still treated differently in everyday life in many aspects such as physical strength, emotions and stamina. Women’s rights activists have helped throughout the years to gain equality and evidence shows that there are no differences between both sexes (as cited in Kirkwood 2013) claims “the profound physiological differences between the sexes proved that to be false, and it also showed that even accommodating women on the battlefield raised profound sociological and moral questions. (para. 3) . However, in the military there is no such thing. In 1948, legislation allowed women to serve in the military, but were not allowed to serve in combat. These conditions still apply although some branches such as the Army have found ways around this law. A woman will never be assigned to a unit strictly to fight in combat, but they can be used in combat support positions, such as military intelligence and air support positions. Of the 2. million soldiers that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, 255,000 have been woman and make up about 14 percent of the U. S military.. So, if a woman can be deployed and experience the same horrible conditions, who is to say they cannot survive in combat? “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any other State on account of sex. ” These words, taken directly from the nineteenth constitutional amendment, it applies almost directly to the women in combat policy issue.
If these equality laws are ignored, it can be considered unconstitutional and, unlawful. Dempsey (as cited in Harris 2013) states that ” opening up the army to women on an entirely equal basis would actually improve the army’s culture and lessen such incidents” (para. 13).
The Research paper on Women And The Law
Through out the years there have been many factors that affect the operation of the legal system to help generate just outcomes for women. Historically, women have always held an inferior place to men, but during the 20th century this concept has changed considerably. The status of women has changed in terms of political suffrage, jury duty, economic rights, property rights, social security and ...
Everyone should have the opportunity to serve their country however they chose and if a woman wants to serve in ground combat, it should be determined by her physical ability, not denied because she was born a woman.
Although many may argue with the fact that women are not emotionally capable of handling the stress on the battlefield as men, it is important to realize that being in combat is an extremely difficult time for every human being, whether it is a man or a woman. In Singapore (as cited in Castenfelt, Leslie, Locke, Mcconnell, Teo, & Teoh, 2013) states that women in military combat ” were tougher soldiers, better fighters, and more capable leaders than most of the men in their cohort. (para. 11).
Therefore, it would not be correct to generally exclude women from front line fighting on account of characteristics that, in reality, are possessed by both men and women, though to a different extent. In conclusion, women should be allowed to enter combat; it would be wrong to keep them from combat situations because of the traditional image they are associated with. Rather, they should be judged on the basis of their abilities and personal characteristics.
