Kyla Sofia S.

Magno March 4, 2019

Grade 11A

Women in Combat

Military is the place for the manliest men, they say. In a way, it is where you can prove
your masculinity – a place for the bravest, strongest, and the brightest. Truly, being in the military
is not an easy task. It requires much more than brains and brawns; to be willing to sacrifice one’s
life for the good of many is not something everyone can do. People in this field are regarded highly
and honored as heroes.

At the same time, heroes in televisions and fiction books have always been the people who
save the damsel in distress, and the person who usually plays as a hero has been always been a
man. From this, it is obvious that the idea of the public about heroes being masculine is normalized,
and women are stuck behind, and serve as shadows. Other than being the sidekick, damsel in
distress, or the love interest, there’s not enough strong women representation in media. Heroines
were out of ordinary, and not as loved as the male heroes – most of the time, female superheroes
are hypersexualized and objectified.

Women have always been tagged as delicate, weak, and someone who always need to be
protected – they have always needed saving, and unfortunately these stereotypes have been widely
accepted that from way back up until now, these have become standards of being a woman. This
led to gender stereotypes, and traditions (which went on for a long time) that give more favor to
the males.

Times may have changed, and people became more accepting, but it still didn’t completely
remove the idea instilled in the public. Despite multiple changes in the workforce for the past years
when it comes to gender roles, the issue is not entirely eradicated from history– in fact, military
policy still bans women from combat roles. Women make up 14 percent of the active duty Army,
23 percent of the Army Reserve, and 16 percent of the Army National Guard, yet women are still
deemed incapable of stereotypically “masculine” jobs.

According to Fumento (2016), “The military is not a democracy, and its purpose isn’t to
provide equal opportunity. It is highly discriminatory, based not on skin color or religion but
ability”. The statement pertains that diversity and democracy isn’t of main concern in the military
- ability and skills are. Though the statement seems to give an impression of siding with the skills
and ability reason, it also subtly states that tradition seem to have a weight when it comes to
significance in the army. In fact, not a lot of people in the army and those who are yet to enlist are
open about the idea of women in combat. They have it in mind to maintain the traditional gender
roles as a nod to the previous, much more conservative “brotherly solidarity” which stemmed all
the way from 20th century army.

Due to this tradition-keeping, the backlash toward women would be possible. With
tradition playing a big part, and the hyper-masculine environment, misogyny and harassment
towards female peers is a probable conflict. In high-risk situations wherein physical contact with
the opposition is possible, “women do not have an equal opportunity to survive.” (Parker, 2015).
With a woman’s body built a lot differently from a man’s body, attempting to do tasks that men
are usually conditioned to do might cause them to overstretch themselves. But then again, not all
women should be generalized like this.

In the first place, since joining the military is not compulsory and women who enlist
decided on their choice their own, allowing women to do combat roles will provide a constant
influx of recruits – more committed people to join the army only means that the army will be fully
equipped for anything. In terms of the physical disadvantages of a woman, Women are well aware
that they couldn’t do anything that will affect their job significantly, such as getting pregnant.
Knowing how crucial it is for their job, they would likely be more focused on their combat roles.
“Standards of professionalism and performance engender better combat performance” (Mike,
2014). Just like women in Afghanistan in charge of the front-line risks, many females who are
effective in their tasks even got accepted in the exclusively male groups. Competence was valued
more rather than their gender.

In general, gender shouldn’t matter as long as a person is capable of doing the task and possesses
the skills needed for the job. The answer to this issue is always subjective and depends on the
context. Rather than focusing on the gender of a person who’s willing to risk life and death to serve
and protect, the focus should be whether they are doing what they are task to do and whether they
are doing it properly. In the first place, the main priority of the military is to carry out dangerous
tasks with minimal casualties as possible. No one should be limited to do whatever they can do
help the world. Not even gender should limit that.
 References

6 Pros and Cons of Women in Combat. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://flowpsychology.com/6-pros-

and-cons-of-women-in-combat/

Ayres, C. (2015, October 02). 9 Fundamental Pros and Cons of Women in Combat. Retrieved from

https://connectusfund.org/9-fundamental-pros-and-cons-of-women-in-combat

Here's Why Women in Combat Will Work. (2014, December 04). Retrieved from

https://warontherocks.com/2014/12/heres-why-women-in-combat-will-work/

Korte, G. (2019, February 25). With women in combat roles, a federal court rules male-only draft

unconstitutional. Retrieved from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/24/military-draft-judge-rules-male-only-

registration-unconstitutional/2968872002/

Moritz, D. (2012, April 30). Women in the Military: Why Can't We Serve on the Front Lines?

Retrieved from https://www.themuse.com/advice/women-in-the-military-why-cant-we-serve-on-

the-front-lines

Parker, K., & Parker, K. (2018, December 12). Why Putting Women In Combat Is A Mistake.

Retrieved from https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-wire-parker-women-in-combat-

1206-20151204-story.html

Studio, P. T. (n.d.). Women in Combat Pros and Cons. Retrieved from

https://sistersinarms.ca/history/women-in-combat-pros-and-cons/

Women in the United States Army. (2018, December 19). Retrieved from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Army