Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones Essay

Exclusively available on IvyPanda Available only on IvyPanda

Introduction

Women have every right to be in whatever profession they like to choose. In the modern world we have seen women playing rough contact games such as rugby and football which were previously considered to be the sole property of men. Likewise warfare is another field where women have proven themselves at their best. Several issues have been raised regarding the role of women in the combat zone which shall be mentioned below.

We will write a custom essay on your topic a custom Essay on Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones
808 writers online

Discussion

In my opinion women have every right to be in the combat zone. An online article titled “Women in Combat-Why Not?” by Captain Barbara Wilson (2005) gives us convincing reasons for women to be in combat zones. According to the article there is in reality no logical, sensible and legal reason which could prevent the women from being in combat zone. Women are often rejected for this job on the basis that they are physically weak and that their strength cannot be compared to the strength of the male counterparts. This notion however is now a part of history. Several studies have been carried out in the military over the issue.

The reports stated that “when a woman is correctly trained, she can be as tough as any man”. A senior analyst in the US Army stated “You don’t need testosterone to get strong”. The notion has also been proven by the results of the training carried out at the US military institutes.

Majority of the women who participated in the course were civilians who had no previous experience of strenuous exercise. After the course more than 75% trainees were declared competent to perform duties in the military that were traditionally performed by males. After viewing the results The Sunday Times reported “by using new methods of physical training, women can be built up to the same levels of physical fitness as men of the same size and build…contrary to the view of many traditionalists, the operational performance of groups improve greatly if both sexes are involved.”

Secondly to think that women obstruct the process of “male bonding”, “unit cohesion” and “good order” is once again an idea of the past. Mixed units have been successful in maintaining unit cohesion and order. They have conducted operations successfully and are too busy to think about the differences. A prominent and successful example of mixed unit is that of Operation Desert Storm. According to Sagawa and Campbell (1992) inclusion of women on the basis of their skills and abilities will also help in overcoming the problem of sexual harassment. Studies have shown that sexual harassment is more common in those areas where women are less represented.

Thirdly it is believed that women cannot be in the battle field because it involves killing and witnessing the colleagues dying. These are the notions that have been portrayed by the society. As there are several women with strong physique that are not confident to protect a passer by in danger, likewise there are several strong hearted women who do not hesitate to pull a trigger in time of need. Many women have proven themselves to be good shooters. On the other hand there are several men who cannot shoot a target at a close range. At the same time the modern world has seen women flying fighter jet planes more or equally confidently than their male counterparts.

Fourthly to think that men have the duty to protect women is once again a traditional outdated notion. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient states: “Men only want to protect women. You men are not our protectors… If you were, who would there be to protect us from?” The woman of today is strong enough to protect her own family and we have seen many single mothers around us who have strongly faced the winds of time. Likewise they are equally capable of protecting the nation from enemies. In any army there are special men who are trained for cut throat jobs. Not all the men have to guts to opt for it.

1 hour!
The minimum time our certified writers need to deliver a 100% original paper

Likewise although not many women will opt for the job of cutting throats still it does not mean that they are unfit for combat zone. Few and not many women will also dare to opt for such assignments. Today about 200,000 women are serving the army which makes them 17% of the total armed force. This percentage is indicative of the fact that women are capable of serving successfully in the armed forces.

Fifthly Wilma Vaught and Elaine Donnelly (2005) are of the view that recruitment for any post should be based on ability and skills and not on gender. All policies related to gender discrimination must be abolished immediately. Even today there are many policies in the military which prohibits women to perform certain tasks. For example women are not allowed to serve in infantry, armor and artillery units. These policies have been bred due to the traditional notions associated with masculinity which allows only men to perform the jobs that requires physical strength and mental toughness.

These views have been proven wrong as approximately more than 30,000 women have served in the Afghan and Iraq wars. About 41 women have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These women have successfully led men in the battle field; have been in prisons, operated lethal and other sophisticated weapons. Many women have been piloting combat aircrafts and ships. According to Vaught (2005) her 28 years experience in the Air Force has been the best where she did not feel being discriminated at any point and stated that male colleagues considered women as an important part of their team. Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught concludes her argument with the following statement: “Why handicap our military with outdated and unrealistic policies restricting the use of capable people? It is time such policies were abolished.”

It is also believed that a lot of time is wasted with women taking maternity leaves. Sagawa and Campbell (1992) have defended women over this issue as well. This point has also been proved wrong by a number of studies carried out in the military. It has been observed that women have low absenteeism as compared to men even if the maternity leaves are added. Men have be found to lose more time due to discipline problems that include picking up a fight, alcohol or drug use etc.

Those who support women in non combat zones also state that women are needed for the healthy upbringing of their children. Studies have shown that there are more male single parent in the Army than single mothers. The Pentagon has also stated that “deployability of personnel with family responsibilities was not a significant problem during Operation Desert Storm (Sagawa and Campbell, 1992).

Sagawa and Campbell (1992) further state that women have proven to be at their best in the face of danger. Women have been taken as POWs and have been treated no worse than men. They have been injured and captured. Military officers are of the view that women “adopt and survive captivity”. They further state that “In some cases, they have shown to do this better than men”. The important thing is not to keep the women out of danger but to minimize it for both the sexes.

Conclusion

To conclude women are equally capable of performing duties that are considered to be the sole property of men. It is about time that the traditional values associated with male masculinity be discarded. One should adopt a broader approach and acknowledge the efforts of women towards a better future not only for themselves but for the whole nation.

Remember! This is just a sample
You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers

References

Sagawa, S. Campbell, N.D. “Women in Combat”, National Women’s Law Center, Washington. (1992). Pg. 1-8. Web.

Vaught, W., Donnelly, E. “Should Women be allowed in Combat? Women make up 15 percent of America’s Armed Forces, but military policy prohibits them from serving in combat zones,”New York Times Upfront (2005). Web.

Wilson, B.A. “” (2005). Web.

Print
Need an custom research paper on Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones written from scratch by a professional specifically for you?
808 writers online
Cite This paper
Select a referencing style:

Reference

IvyPanda. (2021, August 18). Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones. https://ivypanda.com/essays/women-should-be-allowed-to-serve-in-combat-zones/

Work Cited

"Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones." IvyPanda, 18 Aug. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/women-should-be-allowed-to-serve-in-combat-zones/.

References

IvyPanda. (2021) 'Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones'. 18 August.

References

IvyPanda. 2021. "Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones." August 18, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/women-should-be-allowed-to-serve-in-combat-zones/.

1. IvyPanda. "Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones." August 18, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/women-should-be-allowed-to-serve-in-combat-zones/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "Women Should Be Allowed to Serve in Combat Zones." August 18, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/women-should-be-allowed-to-serve-in-combat-zones/.

Powered by CiteTotal, citation creator
If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. Request the removal
More related papers
Cite
Print
1 / 1