Gender Inequality in the United States Armed Forces
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL ISSUE Women take on many different roles in the home, workplace, educational institutions, and their communities. Although they provide great services and significant contributions to the growth and progress of America, they still experience inequality amongst their male counterparts ("Women's Equality Day: Gender Inequalities that Still Exist Today in the U.S.", 2017). Women still continue to see inequality through social, political, and economic standings in the United States. With gender inequality existing on a national level, exploration into the existence in the military will be the focus of this paper. In 2016 there were roughly 215,000 women serving as active …show more content…
The military does not have a gender pay gap and the pay is the same for every rank, but women are not promoted at the same rate as men, therefore preventing them from achieving power equality (Schrager, 2017). The female military members experience vertical and horizontal segregation, with the types of jobs they can do, to the existing hierarchies (Leon-Guerrero, 2015). If women are able to achieve higher rankings and gain political power they will be in position to make decisions and rules regarding women’s issues. With gender distinctions being created and maintained by the theory that biological differences exists therefore preventing women from competing with their male counterparts in combat positions, women are less likely to earn extra pay and achievements through their work. In order to make a change, they have to change the culture of the …show more content…
Since lifting the ban on women serving in combat roles in 2013, the military has taken steps towards gender equality. Beginning with the combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, of the 2 million service members deployed, 280,000 have been women. Of the 280,000 women who deployed, 800 have been wounded and 130 have died (Raphel, 2014). According to journalistresourse.org, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, they address the issue of women serving in combat roles but the inaccuracy of the characterization of their work denies them earned
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL ISSUE Women take on many different roles in the home, workplace, educational institutions, and their communities. Although they provide great services and significant contributions to the growth and progress of America, they still experience inequality amongst their male counterparts ("Women's Equality Day: Gender Inequalities that Still Exist Today in the U.S.", 2017). Women still continue to see inequality through social, political, and economic standings in the United States. With gender inequality existing on a national level, exploration into the existence in the military will be the focus of this paper. In 2016 there were roughly 215,000 women serving as active …show more content…
The military does not have a gender pay gap and the pay is the same for every rank, but women are not promoted at the same rate as men, therefore preventing them from achieving power equality (Schrager, 2017). The female military members experience vertical and horizontal segregation, with the types of jobs they can do, to the existing hierarchies (Leon-Guerrero, 2015). If women are able to achieve higher rankings and gain political power they will be in position to make decisions and rules regarding women’s issues. With gender distinctions being created and maintained by the theory that biological differences exists therefore preventing women from competing with their male counterparts in combat positions, women are less likely to earn extra pay and achievements through their work. In order to make a change, they have to change the culture of the …show more content…
Since lifting the ban on women serving in combat roles in 2013, the military has taken steps towards gender equality. Beginning with the combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, of the 2 million service members deployed, 280,000 have been women. Of the 280,000 women who deployed, 800 have been wounded and 130 have died (Raphel, 2014). According to journalistresourse.org, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, they address the issue of women serving in combat roles but the inaccuracy of the characterization of their work denies them earned