Reaching the Top: Frontline Combat In “Military Women in Combat: Why Making It Official Matters,” writer Jena McGregor discusses the importance of women in frontline combat and the challenges women face when attempting to move up in rank. McGregor graduated from The University of Georgia in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and journalism. She has since worked in the writing and editing field from 1999 to present. She currently writes a blog post for The Washington Post (32). The author is associated with numerous business magazines, one which focuses on executive compensation. McGregor is also associated with The Working Mothers in Business Networking Group which could be considered as a potential bias to some. Associated her with feminist groups or organizations. The thesis of this essay is high ranking jobs remain closed to women of the military; due to the lack of military frontline combat or the exclusion of this type of training for military women. McGregor’s main claim is that restrictions remain on women even though they are now allowed to enter frontline combat. …show more content…
Women in the military should have the same opportunities as men. Just as women have fought to have equal rights and pay in the corporate work place women of the military are fighting to have equal opportunities. Women in the military want to have no limitations put on their success or dreams based on their gender. Before reading this article my understanding of this topic was nonexistent. In my own experience, I have found it difficult for women in the work force to be promoted at the same rate that men are. They are also often not given the opportunity to apply for the supervisor positions available. This essay makes me think of all the progress that has been made for women’s rights but also identifies the changes that still need to be made to ensure the men and women have equal
The book, Women in Combat: A Reference Handbook, display how women have been serving and involved in combat dating back to ancient times. The Author, Rosemarie Skaine, provides references that highlight women achievements and link their participation to the respective conflicts. She articulates the challenges women face from balancing family life to sexual issues. She also compares the role of women in the United States Military to foreign militaries. The book paints an overall sketch of women on the battlefield without a front line and their willingness to confront all odds.
January 24, 2013 Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta lifted the ban on women serving in combat. For years women have served with honor and distinction. When faced with combat and in an insurgency type of modern warfare, any soldier can potentially see combat. Realistically, there is a difference between experiencing combat on a convoy and going out day after day on combat patrols to perform search and destroy missions. Having served as a Marine Infantryman in Afghanistan twice, I am against the decision to open all combat military occupation specialties (MOSs) to women. My purpose is not to degrade the valuable contributions of women in the military, but to specifically address their role and effect on direct combat Infantry and Special Forces units. I celebrate the decision to lift the previous ban on a social basis for women’s equality, but my personal experiences and knowledge of the way war is experienced makes me ultimately opposed to allowing women to serve in direct ground combat positions.
Owens’s claims over the topic of women in combat happen to be that he is against the idea of placing “American women in combat or in support positions associated with direct ground combat” in the military. He states that there physical differences between the sexes, men tend to treat women differently, and that the presence of women lead to double standards. Therefore, with this reasoning that Owens claims allows the readers to have a better understanding of his perspective on women in
In Women in the Military, Janette Mance explores the debates and problems faced by the increasing number of women involved in the military. After examining issues such as pregnancy, sexual harassment, and rape, Mance concludes that as a society we must continue to strive for gender equality.
Women have been part of the military since the Revolutionary War such as nurses and clerical workers, (Street, Vogt and Dutra, 2009, p. 686). While these women did have typical female jobs for that time period, women were of great help because without them, the men who were wounded may not have been taken care of as well and the paperwork may have been backlogged and unorganized. Since then, women have slowly made more entrances in the military in other areas than just medical and desk work. Currently, women occupy 80% of the military occupational specialties and 90% of the careers offered in the military, which is a huge jump from where women were back in World War II or even just a decade ago, (Weiss and DeBraber, 2013, p. 37). With this
In the recent past women in the Canadian Forces have managed to reach integrated positions including position of combat in the military. Lack of research and knowledge that governs and supports women in these roles is a common phenomenon in many countries. Women have experienced gender disparity for a long time; however, with the help of other stakeholders and their effort they have persistently fought gender discrimination. When there is no appropriate research, there is a likelihood that the provided services may fail to target the actual need of women. For women in the military to be optimistic about the support, there is need for research that is to examine their experiences in the military. This discrimination has also been revealed by nontraditional research on women. From the history of Canadian Forces, women have really struggled to achieve pay and status equity and integration within the military ranks and positions. Their efforts have been faced with a number of barriers and setbacks which arise from the Canadian government that pave way for gender integration upon the military.
Women in the military have changed drastically over the last few decades from a strict roles often as nurses, they are now moving into pilot fighting and working on aircraft carriers. In the military the roles of women are questioned on a
For years women have been trying to gain gender equality throughout the working world, along with in the military. Since the beginning of a uniformed military, women could not serve in military occupational specialty (MOS) positions that put them in direct combat roles. Although many women have contributed in significant ways, they have not been authorized to serve in MOS such as infantry, artillery, or armor. As the war on terrorism has developed since 9/11, women have slowly worked their way farther into the military and its many roles. This resulted in women being placed into direct combat roles. Though women have been allowed into many different roles, there is still one battle that they have yet to win and this time the majority is not backing them. Women are trying to gain access to United States Special Operations units in every branch of the military and the majority of these operators are not happy about it. While some people believe women deserve equality and the chance to do what men can do in the military, that is why women should not be
Thesis Statement: A few females are joining the military, and those taking leadership roles is even small, caused by existence of limited information about the Army and less combat roles, and this can be addressed by lifting ban on women on combat and creating more combat support jobs.
This is a huge step for women from the beginning of the Women’s Rights movement to today’s society. Women have more freedom now, than they use too, but with that freedom comes more threats and dangers (Faludi). Violence in the military is fairly often among the men, but with the addition of women, this creates a whole new quandary for women’s equality. Not only is violence an issue but sexual harassment reports have drastically increased since the adaptation of women. Recent studies have shown that about ninety percent of servicewomen have reported some kind of physical, or verbal sexual harassment.
After years of discussion and debate it appears that soon women will be sent into combat operations in the United States military. This is the way it should be because women are ready and competent to be put into combat roles in the U.S. military. Indeed, slowly but surely, the Defense Department and Congress have been inching towards a decision that will formalize the policy; in fact the National Defense Authorization Act, put before Congress in May, 2012 by U.S. Senators John McCain and Carl Levin will in effect order the military "…to come up with a plan to send women into battle" (McAuliff, 2012). Hopes are high that this will be approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Women have fought alongside men in the United States Military in every major battle since the American Revolution. The roles of women in the military have evolved over time to allow the incorporation of women in expanding military career fields. Women have proven themselves to be an asset to the military despite some of society believing women would weaken America’s military effectiveness. Today more than 200,000 women are active-duty military, this is about 14.5% of all military. Currently, women are involved in all branches of the Armed Forces; there are around 74,000 women in the Army, 62,000 in the Air Force, 53,000 in the Navy, and 14,000 in the Marine Corps (By the numbers: Women in the U.S. Military). Military women continue to
Since 1901, women have served in some form of the military, however, dating back to the American Revolution women have had an unofficial role. Women have had and will continue to have an important role in the military, the question is whether women should be allowed to occupy specific combat positions. Traditionally women have not been allowed in combat occupations, but recently these restrictions have been somewhat lifted, making certain occupations available to women. Despite the lift complications arise from women being in combat vocations and it’s not just because of the physical differences, there is also the increased risk of sexual assault. Due to the detrimental impact on the military, soldiers, and society, women should not
When it comes to combat assignments and the needs of the military, men take precedence over all other considerations, including career prospects of female service members. Female military members have been encouraged to pursue opportunities and career enhancement within the armed forces, which limit them only to the needs and good of the service due to women being not as “similarly situated” as their male counterparts when it comes to strength or aggressiveness, and are not able to handle combat situations.
Women have played a tremendous role in many countries' armed forces from the past to the present. Women have thoroughly integrated into the armed forces; all positions in the armed forces should be fully accessible to women who can compete with men intellectually and physically.