Woman in the MIlitary

When flipping through the New York Times this morning I came across an article about woman’s role in the military.   Maud Newton says that around 400 women “(fought) in the Civil War wearing disguises”.  These woman had to wear dinguses’ otherwise they would not have been allowed to fight.  The first thought that popped into my head about this was “wow, how outdated” yet when I thought more about it I realized that this law still applies today.

 Women today are still prohibited from combat; “During World War II female soldiers were taught to wear girdles, high heels and makeup that matched their uniforms. Since the 1990s, policies have focused more on prohibiting women from positions that involve direct ground combat, physically demanding tasks and lack of privacy”.  Clearly we have come a long way, yet woman our still being restricted.  I believe it is unfair that woman are not allowed in combat.  This decision should be up to the individual.  Women also go through the same demanding and physically exhausting training.

A number of woman that served in the army were interviewed. One in particular expressed a lot of anger about the fact that woman are prohibited from combat.  As she says "women need to be acknowledged as being in combat because they're out there putting their lives on the line."  Even thought woman may not be fighting they are still on the battlefield facing similar risks to those who are fighting.   She also adds "women really need to have the fact that they are engaging in combat acknowledged so they can keep moving up the ladder". This is true, for if woman are so restricted than they have less to strive for and may not improve much.  I think it’s really important that woman can fight in combat, it will take away the gender inequalities and allow woman to have more to obtain.  What do you think of this pressing issue?  What does it say about our society today?