Feminism In Military

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According to Dictionary, “Feminism [is]: the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” Throughout history, women have fought the traditional viewpoints of the roles of women and have pushed past an abounding amount of boundaries. However, one blistering topic that is still being fought over today is, if women should be allowed in every aspect of the military. Since being allowed to join the military during World War 1, females have progressed through the ranks until being forced to stop when it comes to joining the elite groups of every branch. The controversial question that many military women face is, “If they wish to join these elite groups and meet the qualifications, why should we stop
Many studies have been conducted to see the effect women have on a unit as they have integrated over the years, and in turn these studies have been used to explain how the Army as a whole could overcome the problems of effective cohesion that are bound to happen within the Direct Combat units. Through the results of these studies, social scientists agree that “introducing women into ground combat units would immediately erode those units’ social cohesion” which is not a good combination for certain missions as “in the military, the intimacy and isolation of combat demand high social cohesion” (Wojack). These scientists go on to say that if there is even “high social cohesion” it could also affect routine outcomes as “people start to prioritize friendship and social activities over preforming their jobs”
This is due to the fact that there are actually very few women who question why they are not allowed in these combat units. One woman remarks that, “I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the infantry. A normal woman can’t carry a rucksack that the guys can... And, let’s face it, we would probably make things harder on everybody all around. No Way” (Moskos). This woman states from personal experience, that women are probably not a good fit for the infantry for several different reasons and there are not many women who disagree. Women make up fourteen percent of all soldiers, and out of that there is maybe a percent or two who have considered the direct combat units; therefore the question becomes “Where is the twenty percent that would join the elite groups?”
General Foote says that “few women belong in the infantry…but that certainly some could perform well in those roles, and there is no good reason to exclude women from combat aviation. [However], never compromise standards. Be sure that anybody in any MOS can do everything required in that MOS” (Moskos). Foote is stating what most supporters believe, that if a woman can meet the all of the requirements for the direct combat units, she should be granted access. Their answer to that question is that men do not know how to work with women because they have always worked in a “male cadre and officer corps”

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