Women in Combat Essays (810 words) - Gender Studies, Gender

Should women be allowed to serve in combat roles in the military like men? At the beginning of the twentieth century, women were struggling for their right to be considered equal to men. In the early 1900s they achieved their first real victory when women were granted the right to vote. Before this time, women were not allowed to vote because they were told that the polling places were unsafe. Women were taught to stay at home and take care of their families. It is now the 21st century, and women have achieved yet another victory. Women have gained the right to participate in military combat. It is a different time, but the scenario is very similar to what it was many years ago. Many people still believe that woman?s place is at home raising and taking care of the family. However, women have had to prove again and again that, in most situations, they are capable of performing at the same level as any man. Women are continually fighting for the same rights afforded to men, and engagin g in military combat is a right to which they are entitled. Proponents of women in combat believed that putting women in military combat is the cutting edge of the feminist goal to force people into an androgynous society. History offers no evidence for the proposition that the assignment of women to military combats is the way to win wars, improve combat readiness, or even promote national security. No country in history has ever sent mothers of toddlers off to fight enemy soldiers until the United States did this in the Iraq war. In addition, one of the most important factors that show how women are not as effective as men in combat situations is the obvious fact that they perform on different physical levels. Another important point is the fact that women are much more susceptible to injury than men. These factors could weigh heavily for the competence and effectiveness of a normally trained woman in battle. Therefore, the environment of war includes many variables that the men must overcome and make quick and well educated decisions. When worrying about health-care and hygiene during war a soldier cannot make good decisions. Women in the Persian Gulf War often traveled in the back of trucks with male soldiers. Some of the areas were so littered with land mines that it was unsafe to walk even a few feet from the truck. The men were able to urinate while standing in a corner of the bed. But the women did not have portable toilets or even rudimentary chamber pot. If women are allowed to enter the combat environment, they will not physically support the stress of staying alive. When it comes right down to it, men and women can participate equally in any situation, when given the chance. Women of today are ambitious, especially women who are entering into military combat because of the resistance they have encountered for so long. Women are competitive and often take charge and seize control of any situation. They know what they want and will go to great lengths to achieve it. Women can be tough and unemotional, even in times of distress. These are not characteristics that have been linked with women because, traditionally, these were characteristics only a man could possess. As others contends that fame, aggressiveness, achievement, and self confidence were territories into which very few women dared to enter. However, society is slowly realizing that women do possess many of the same traits as men, but historically, women have been unable to exhibit them. In many cases, women will not be as strong as men, but does this fact really have any bearing on women engaging in combat? In the past, strength for hand to hand combat was necessary. With technology as it is today, hand to hand combat is almost obsolete. Much of the fighting today is done using advanced computer technology and nuclear weapons. Strength does not increase intelligence, and both men and women are equally qualified to operate a computer. That doesn?t mean, by the way, that I am a bloodthirsty militarist. I think most of our nation?s recent wars have been mistakes, and