During my military service in the Air Force, I worked with
many women also in the Air Force but since I was a medic, the women I worked with
were mostly nurses, LPNs and medical clerks …and this was 1966 – 1970. Since
then, women have slowly entered into many other military positions but never as
combat soldiers.
Now we are told that women will be allowed to serve on the
front lines of battle as combat soldiers.
For us in the US; this is a historic first and I am hearing
a lot of pros and cons…
From an equality standpoint, I think it is time females were
treated as equals in every respect and so, I believe gender bias needs to be
gone…forever.
Looking at it from a “societal” point of view, things get a
little more complicated. Men have always been taught to protect women and
children. This is imbued into our psyche and is therefore an automatic
response. This is also a “natural” instinct provided by Mother Nature as a
means of “survival” or “preservation” of the colony as women can carry and
bring forth new life.
Females are also the “weaker” sex and therefore should be
protected by the “stronger” gender and here we are only talking about physical
strength because women are “stronger” in so many other categories.
How will this translate into behavior on the front lines of
battle…especially by men fighting alongside women?
An even stronger potential impact on behavior is the necessity
of being in close proximity with the opposite sex for long periods of time. Rape
is already a BIG problem in the military; will this just exacerbate the
problem?
Another article I read about this issue talked about hygiene
on the front lines which can get pretty dicey even for the men; now throw women
into the mix?
The women in the Air Force with me in the late 60s were
there because they wanted to be there; men at that time were either drafted or
joined the Air Force to escape being drafted into the Marines who were more likely
to come home in body bags.
The women I served with joined the military to escape a life
situation they did not like or to see the world. Many were escaping bad home
environments, bad boyfriends or husbands and many hoped to find better
boyfriends and husbands and many did.
But for a woman to want to be in combat…I am not sure that
that is a “normal” desire for a woman but what do I know about women.
I think it will be very interesting (at least to me) to see
what type of women apply for those combat positions and maybe we will learn why…
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