critical thinking

2

Women in the Military

Sharva Harris

Concorde Career College

August 6, 2006

Women in the Military

Women play different vital roles in society or community. However, other cultures contemplate or perceive women as a weaker gender against men. Women are discouraged or exempted from various roles such as fields where they experience significant discrimination when joining the military. Male perceptions are that women may not perform efficiently and effectively in the military. However, women are recognized as efficient while carrying out their military duties since they have different responsibilities to fulfill or achieve when the opportunity is granted to them. The paper seeks to discuss the role, and importance of women in the military.

For over a decade, women's role in the military has experienced different controversies. Women were not considered as part of military forces and would never participate in combat. The theory that men may handle various jobs better compared to women has been evident for many years. Men are considered more equipped when executing military duties, while women's role has been reduced to almost nothing (Tepe et al., 2016). Many individuals may not handle the image of their mothers arriving back in body bags and the concern that women may interfere with group cohesion and bonding, which many people raised. Due to this, women never participated in the military for several years.

However, in recent years, various countries have expanded and encouraged the role of women in the armed or military forces. Women are now given increased prominent roles in combat and even lead the war front. Various countries currently allow women into military forces on an equal basis. An example is the defense department of the U.S, which announced advanced policies that would create over 14,000 job opportunities for women in the military forces. Besides the positive step, most vacancies are still reserved for men to join the military forces (Mankowski et al., 2015). Military job opportunities need to be available to both women and men at equal rates without any form of discrimination. Additionally, there are certain positions that women may not take in the military. Such restrictions are still an obstacle to the involvement of many women since they perceive such restrictions as a limit to their full potential.

The argument on involving women in the military is essential for maintaining gender equality at all levels. It is imperative to enable and provide opportunities to women to have lucrative military careers. Women that serve in the military need to be based on training and ability, not gender. Elaine Donnelly's article stipulates that women have led men in different battles, fired fatal weapons, managed most sophisticated or advanced systems, and been war prisoners. They usually assist on combat ships and help flying combat aircraft. Most women meet the military's mental and physical standards and are highly trained war leaders and fighters, and are technically proficient.

Currently, the all-volunteer force indicates women have acknowledged different responsibilities, dangers, and challenges of the military service as men have. In today's war on terror and battlefield, there are no front lines, and all units, regardless of their mission or size, have the potential of engaging with the enemy. Women are also considered capable of doing what men may do on the battlefield. There is a need for both genders to have equal opportunities to serve in the military forces (Fatima, 2018). There should be no discrimination concerning sex while recruiting individuals in the forces.

The audience of the argument is the military leaders and students. According to various individual's and specialists' views, gender equality is considered more than a human right or virtue. Gender biases have undermined people's social fabric and enhanced the devaluing of humankind's nature. Denying women equal rights entails denying them a chance to live to their fullest. Social, political, and economic equality benefits the world substantially since women's empowerment ensures all women participate in different aspects of life.

Different women have proved to be superior to men in different fields or disciplines; most individuals thought women would not succeed. The women participation in the military is associated with gender equality and women empowerment since it fights women's rights. When women are allowed to work in the military, it indicates a positive notion that females are an equal gender to males. It also helps kill the gesture that women are considered weaker gender compared to male counterparts. In a fast-growing and changing world, gender equality helps in developing the economy of countries. The topic is vital to me since increasing women's participation may become more essential as military tasks keep changing in different regions. Different countries are progressively fighting asymmetric wars, which demand minimal outright combat and peacekeeping through intelligence gathering, civil engagement, and strategic decision-making. Women's involvement becomes valuable since they provide perspectives that may not be typically found in male-dominated fields.

References

Fatima, Q. (2018). Why we need women in the military. Project Syndicate. Retrieved from: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/saudi-arabia-military-women-reform-by-quratulain-fatima-2018-04

Mankowski, M., Tower, L. E., Brandt, C. A., & Mattocks, K. (2015). Why women join the military: Enlistment decisions and post-deployment experiences of service members and veterans. Social Work, 60(4), 315-323.

Tepe, V., Yarnell, A., Nindl, B. C., Van Arsdale, S., & Deuster, P. A. (2016). Women in combat: summary of findings and a way ahead. Military medicine, 181(suppl_1), 109-118.