One or another form of gender-based discrimination has constantly existed throughout the history of mankind. At the same time, military service may be regarded as a particular area of human activities where this discrimination may be observed distinctly due to the presence of a highly masculinized culture. In general, women still represent the minority in the majority of armies across the globe. Despite the fact that their integration currently deserves equality and the same opportunities across all levels and branches of the military service, women’s expansion to combat roles and permanent positions with related benefits remain a considerable challenge to policymakers and military authorities. Although this issue is frequently covered by mass media, authors express different attitudes towards it both directly and indirectly.
In his article, Soutik Biswas refers to the intention of India’s Supreme Court to influence the government and give women commanding roles in the army. Despite the participation of female soldiers in air and marine forces for several decades, ground combat forces remained an exception. Women worked there as nurses, doctors, engineers, administrators, lawyers, and signalers (Biswas). They handled explosives, treated injured soldiers on battlefields, laid communication lines, and detected mines for subsequent removal. In other words, they did «almost everything except combat roles” (Biswas). At the same time, according to various experts, women deserve to serve as commanders if qualitative standards and physical ability allow them to do it.
Based on the article’s analysis, it is possible to conclude that the author supports the participation of Indian women in ground combat forces, especially in commanding roles. According to him, “patriarchy should not come in the way of equality and common sense” (Biswas). However, his argument in support of this position cannot be regarded as fully efficient due to its inability to achieve its communication goal and induce readers.
In general, the author advocates his position through the provision of other people’s arguments and counterarguments related to the issue. For instance, he initially cited the words of the government’s lawyers who stated that women are not suitable for ground combat roles, their service will create challenges for motherhood, childcare, and confinement, and male soldiers are not “yet mentally schooled to accept women officers in command” (Biswas). However, he subsequently provides the comment of Srinath Raghavan, a military historian, who believes that “military training is about fundamentally reshaping norms and attitudes that soldiers bring from their social backgrounds” (Biswas).
Thus, the author aims to show that any argument against the permission for women to serve in the army cannot be regarded as reliable as it every time has its counterargument. In addition, he supports his position by the examples of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries where women are allowed to take combat roles. However, this article may be defined as informative rather than persuasive.
Another article that addresses the issue of gender inequality in Indian army is written by Romita Saluja. Inferior pension rights and career opportunities remain limited for female officers in comparison with their male counterparts regardless of all court battles. Women receive a chance to get a permanent job in the army or retire with a pension only after 14 years of service (Saluja). However, even after this period, they are frequently decided as unfit for a permanent commission intentionally to reduce the number of female soldiers. In general, women in the army have no financial security and are forced to work at the same level as men regardless of pregnancy or postpartum period.
The author of this article supports the inclusion of women in the military service on equal terms with men, and her argument is quite persuasive due to its ability to trigger readers’ emotions. The main technique used for the material is direct speech from the interviews of women explicitly connected with the subject of the article. Through the provision of women’s real stories, the author allows readers to imagine their situations and feel the challenges these women went through (Saluja). In addition, Saluja uses the technique of asking crucial rhetorical questions to force readers to reflect on the issue and answer these questions by themselves.
The last article connected with the issue of gender inequality in the context of the military service was prepared by Shreshtha Das. The author does not support the decision of India’s Supreme Court that has allowed women to serve as military force commanders and states that “giving women commanding roles in the armed forces does not erase the harm done by militarized masculinity” (Das). From a personal perspective, this article contains the most efficient and persuasive arguments that support a particular position.
First of all, the author being a woman offers an unbiased point of view. Every argument she provides against women’s expansion (the existence of sexual harassment, stereotyped thinking of male soldiers, hidden motives of the government covered by the ideas of feminism) is illustrated by direct speech, statistics, or an example. In general, this material has a strong persuasive power that may form or change readers’ opinions.
Works Cited
Biswas, Soutik. “India’s Soldiers ‘not Ready for Women in Combat.‘” BBC News. 2020. Web.
Das, Shreshtha. “Equal Roles for Women in Indian Army Is not a Feminist Victory.” Aljazeera. 2020. Web.
Saluja, Romita. “‘It Has Hit My Dignity’: Women Fight for Equal Treatment from Indian Army.” The Guardian. 2020. Web.