Emily Vanleer

2/10/19

Women in the Military

Women are warriors capable of defending their country but there are some who question

this or believe otherwise. Teresa Fazio wrote this article and had it published on November 22,

2018 and in it she discusses the struggles that women go through and what some men think about

women being in the armed forces. The reason she wrote this article is to show what women face

in the armed forces with men not respecting them and treating them unfairly even when they had

some successful moments in their career. She also explains why women are great assets to have

in the military. Teresa makes a very convincing argument towards why women should be in the

armed forces and shows us examples of what women go through behind the scenes of defending

our country.

In the article Teresa brings up many examples of what women go through with men

that can make being in the military difficult for them. One example is that a women was bullied

by her male colleague after they had survived a roadside bomb. Another example she provides is

a young soldier in Afghanistan took charge after her male colleague got scared and cut off their

radio signal. She was praised at first but then later was not included in meetings. In this article

she also talks about how women are helpful in the war efforts. Some examples she gives is how

women lead interviews with women in Afghanistan to gain vital information that the United

States can use against the enemy. This article was meant for women who are getting ready to go

into the armed forces. It is almost used to give women confidence and let them know that no

matter what they can do anything a man can do in the military.

 The first appeal to introduce in this article is Ethos. Ethos means it is a credible, reliable

and truthful statement. One example in the article is, “In The American Conservative, Scott

Beauchamp could see no benefit in bringing women into combat roles and suggest that the

Pentagon was cynically trying to bolster recruiting during ill-conceived wars.” (paragraph 1) In

this statement she brings up “Scott Beauchamp” who seems to have a high role in society.

Though many people may not agree with him he does seem like a reliable resource. “ Two

Norwegian researchers, Nina Hellum and Ulla-Britt Lilleaas, have found that having male and

female troops live together has a “degenderizing” effect that makes soldiers act more like

siblings, reducing harassment.” (paragraph 6) This statement right here is a perfect example of

Ethos. She has reliable information from a base that lives co-ed and the impact it has on female

and male soldiers. It goes along with the point she is trying to get across in her article. “For

example, all recruits must run two kilometers (1.25 miles) while wearing combat gear —

including body armor, helmet and rifle — in under 10 minutes and 15 seconds if they want to

join elite reconnaissance teams.” (paragraph 7) In this example she is using information from

actual boot camps and requirements needed in order for people to move on.

The next appeal to introduce in this article is Logos. Logos means it is a logical,

statistical, and studied statement. The first example of logos I found in this article is “One room

housed 10 men and four women, all in bunk beds, and the recruits viewed this integration as

crucial to unit strength.” (paragraph 5) The recruits feel that this is a good way to stop the mixed

feelings between male and female soldiers and it is all trial and tribulations to see how

productive this method is. “The evidence does exist, and is growing, that gender-integrated

combat teams are effective.” (paragraph 3) There is research being conducted about how

effective gender-integrated teams are so this means it is still being studied today. “And even the
man who is overseeing gender integration, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, recently expressed a

surprising level of ambivalence about the policy, saying that there are still too few women in the

infantry to determine whether having them fight in close quarters is a “strength or a weakness.”

(paragraph 2) This statement stood out to me because Jim Mattis knows he can not make an

educated decision on the matter because he needs more data.

The last appeal to look at in this article is Pathos. Pathos means the statement is meant to

get to your emotions. One example found in the article is, “A noncommissioned officer I met

was a sinewy CrossFit athlete who passed the grueling reconnaissance course. While she was

deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, a male colleague bullied her in the months after they survived

a roadside bomb, or I.E.D. In 12 years of service, it was the only time she was harassed.”

(paragraph 9) This is making the reader feel bad for her because she was bullied for something

they both went through together, which is not fair at all. “Similarly, a Swedish Army captain

told me that as a young soldier, she drove armored personnel carriers in Afghanistan. After

dodging an I.E.D., she took charge when her new male lieutenant panicked and unwittingly

disabled their radio network. At the time, her male colleagues praised her quick thinking, but

they soon after closed ranks against her, excluding her from meetings and briefings.” (paragraph

10) This example makes me think that her male colleagues felt they lost a little bit of masculinity

because a women stepped up to the plate and was stronger than a male in the situation. “Like the

United States military, Sweden has spent the past year reckoning with sexual harassment and

assault in its ranks.” (paragraph 11) This hits readers hard because it is a touchy subject to talk

about especially for people who experienced it.

Teresa Fazio was effective in this article because she appeals to her audience through

examples in real life incidents. Her strongest tactic was using pathos to get to her audiences
emotions about women in the armed forces. In order to strengthen her topic, I believe she should

have added more information about why women should be in the armed forces. She gave too

many examples about discrimination about women and not enough information about how

women help the war efforts. This article is timely today because women face discrimination

about joining the armed forces all the time. People need to see what women bring to the military.