Women In Combat

Women and war have never seemed to have much in common. As the “gentle sex”, women have traditionally been coupled with caring and with creating life instead of destroying it. And even though women had the opportunity to enter the army, they were not officially allowed to enter combat, special operations, and infantry alongside their male counterparts. This was until a recent ruling from Mr. Leon Panetta, Director of CIA, that newly allowed women in combat. Although women have recently been given equal rights, there is still much controversy about whether or not this is an ethical move for our armed forces. At the end of the day, women have been essential to crucial operations for years, and are expected to uphold the same physical and mental …show more content…
Although true, many arguments made by opponents lack factual support. For example, numerous argue that “they will have to do so in an environment that combines life-threatening danger with underlying sexual tensions” (Jerry Boykin). The argument being that women, who already have been fighting in life-threatening dangerous situations, will be unable to do so because of the apparent sexual tensions distracting soldiers from the war surrounding them. However, it is crucial to note that the above arguments are based on a bias of woman and are general statements rather than ultimate facts; in other words, they may not be true for every woman. As a decorated soldier you should be able to separate sex and war, sex and your duty. As General Dempsey argues, “I have to believe the more we treat people equally, the more likely they are to treat each other equal – when you stop viewing men and superiors- they will stop treating the women as inferior” (Brown). There is no better solution to solving the sexual tensions than eliminating them altogether- by ceasing to view women as the inferior gender, the idea of women being solely sexual beings is eliminated and replaced with the fact that all people, regardless of gender, have the ability to be a superior soldier on the …show more content…
As long as they meet the same physical requirements as expected by men, they should be granted the same respect as male soldiers- and be allowed to serve for their country. Countless women work in areas of the military that have equal physical and mental strain as the fields of the military in which they are trying to advance their careers. Both genders are capable of becoming excellent soldiers and put their lives on the line everyday, so both genders should be treated with the same respect on and off the