Women should be allowed to fight in combat and in combat missions. Being a women should not be a disqualification for any military job. By excluding women from fighting in combat positions, the military is not giving them the opportunity to advance as easily in rank as men and as a result make it difficult for them to occupy commanding positions in the services. If women meet the physical standards and those standards are the same as the men?s, what reason is there for women not to be allowed to fight? The exclusion laws come into effect making a “glass ceiling” in the military for careers of women and is a clear case of discrimination.
In the influential book, Ground Zero, the author Linda Franckes contends that this type of gender discrimination is nothing new and is in fact “traditional” for men to demean women in this way (Proponent?s Arguments 1).
If it is simple tradition to demean women, then change is possible. If it changes then women would have equal rights in the military. Therefor women can have equal rights in the military if change takes place in peoples attitudes. Considering the fact that women today volunteer for military service, many just in an attempt to better themselves, it would hardly seem fair that they are subjugated to these bias restrictions. Combat exclusion laws promote discrimination that tends to portray women as weak, inferior and in need of protection. Therefore they are not given the assignments of duty in combat. This restriction dampens the chance for many women to advance up in the ranks (Blacksmith 23).
The Research paper on Allowing Women Military Combat Men
America's Military For decades, America's Military Essay, Research Paper For decades, America? s military, and it? s citizens, have been grappling with a very important decision: should women be allowed to serve in combat? This issue has been in the media since I was in elementary school, and so far there is no end in sight. Although there are many advocator's for allowing women to fight in the ...
United States Senator, Olympia Snow, points out that “every time a women is excluded from a high ranking position, she is devalued” Senator Snow feels that the exclusion laws equal lesser military status, and lesser status means lesser worth. A horrible side effect that the image of lesser female worth in the military, translates into a number of problems. Harassment, abuse and rape, are some of the most dramatic problems that women face because they cannot attain the higher respect that a superior ranking officer demands. Proof that these problems do in fact exist lie in the fact that over a six-month period 1100 alleged criminal investigations involving harassment, abuse or rape were reported in the Army alone. If the military would let women fight in combat, they would be able to attain the higher ranking positions and the respect that deserve. Statistics that show in the marines only 2.6 percent of the women ever attain the higher status of a superior ranking officer. That 2.6% out of 176,770 personal currently active in the Marines and is unaceptable. The Panaminian incident is proof that women can fight and do deserve the opportunity to. By being out on the lines women will have an equal opportunity to advance higher in the ranks. The exclusion laws are keeping women from fighting and, for the most part, keeping them from advancing in rank, and attaining the higher respect women deserve. Women have proved themselves capable in combat during 1989 in Panama, when the U.S. military put into action a platoon of military police that exchanged in gunfire with Panamanian soldiers near Panama City. It was led by a woman, making it the first modern instance of American women engaging hostile troops in combat(Blacksmith 17).
In the aftermath of the Panama invasion, a New York Times/CBS News Opinion Poll showed that 72 percent of those surveyed thought military women should be allowed to serve in combat units if they wanted to. Another poll conducted in February 1990, by McCall?s magazine telephone survey 755 women and found an even stronger approval. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents agreed that women should be allowed to serve in combat units if they wanted to. Current combat exclusion laws do not directly prohibit women from engaging in combat. They only limit women from engaging in “combat missions” however the United States Military does not define the term combat mission(Blacksmith 18).
The Essay on Women in Military Combat
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 ...
In addition to this, the risk rule assumes that protecting women is a primary objective of the combat exclusion laws. It states that: “risks of exposure to direct combat, hostile fire, or capture are proper criteria for closing noncombat positions or units to women, providing that the type, degree, and duration of such risks are equal to or greater than that experienced by combat units in the same theater of operation.”( Women?s Studies Database Government and Politics factsheet 12) Basically that means that any military job that has any risk of becoming involved in combat must, in order to protect the women, deny them positions. Dramatic changes in communication and weapons technology have significantly altered the way wars are fought, blurring distinctions between combat and noncombat roles and between safe and high risk areas. Changes since 1948 when exclusion laws were made, have raised questions about whether the goal, to protect women, is achievable (Blacksmith20).
Unfortunately the combat exclusion laws continued to exist and are denying women in the service the opportunity to engage in any military job that could be “hazardous to their health”. For instance air combat missions are closed to women by the Air Force, therefor the number of women who can enter training is limited. This may result in highly qualified women being passed over for less qualified men. The public wants equal opportunities for both men and women. They are convience by the Panama incident that women can hold up under fire and should be allowed in combat. Women should be allowed in combat missions. By excluding women in the military they do not have the opportunity to advance as easily in rank as men. We should allow women who meet the same physical standards as men to fight in combat. The changes in the way war is being fought make it very difficult to define a combat mission therefor we should revoke the exclusion laws and allow women to participate in combat.
The Essay on Women In The Military 4
... combat exclusion law, which prohibited women from engaging in combat. After the law was repealed women were “permitted to fly combat aircraft and serve on [some] combat ... equal amount of job opportunities for men and women. Although the military is growing more and more equal over time, ... national security are not something America is wiling to risk, with good reason. With that said just because the ...
Bibliography:
Blacksmith E. A. Women in the Military. H. W. Wilson Company. New York; New York, 1992. Women?s Studies Database Government and Politcs factsheet http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/WomensStudies/GovernmentPolitics/ Military/factsheet Proponent?s Arguments http://www.ae.utexas.edu/~strick/women/arguefor.html
