Introduction
Women in military have the history which extends more than four millenniums into past, throughout a variety of nations as well as cultures. Women have been engage in several roles in military ranging from the early warriors to currently serving in various forces around the globe side by side with men. It is a fact that almost all the armed forces of countries throughout the world have majority of men serving as military personnel however the role of women can’t be neglected over men. The military role of women have been controversial since its beginning but still many events in history indicate women’s role in military combat along with men. For instance during Civil War, numerous women cross dressed themselves as men and fought in the war in order to support their men.
Despite numerous, though inadequate, roles in armies of the past societies, women’s role in the military, especially during combat, is considered controversial hence it is of rare observation that women were given key appointments in military in past. It has recently started in various forces around the world to include women to be appointed in key staff positions to play their prominent roles in respective armed forces. The debate of women’s role in military continues as the countries start to expand women’s role in their military applications. Women like Jennie Hodgers, went as Albert D. J. Cashier throughout her life. Roza Shanina who was a Soviet sniper killed about 54 confirmed targets during World War II. Women’s involvement in war was not restricted by just fighting with men dressed as men but it has been extended to nursing and other medical aid during war. Approximately 400,000 women of Soviet Union served as nurses and medics in the front lines of war during WWII .
Cultural and Social Aspects
Mixed-gender docking on submarines and ships has been one of the major issues in navies all around the world. Critiques argue that the presence of women in various active military units might hurt the esprit de corps which will result in men’s distrust for women about military responsibility. Other critiques present the argument that the presence of women in military might result in romantic affairs which will consequently affect the overall performance of the military unit. Furthermore, women might get pregnant in order to avoid any upcoming combat situation. There are few other critiques which have the opinion that capturing of military women by the enemies might result in sexual assault on the captured women which will affect those women socially as well as morally throughout their lives .
In contrary to these arguments, experts state that shortage of men for military may be overcome by inducting women in military. This decision fill up the shortage quickly as men also seem to get interested in applying for military jobs when there are women working in those forces. The motivational and competitive factors are also a large contributor in enhancing the efficiency of overall military force due to the presence of women in it. Another strong argument in favor of the women’s service in military is that a sight of wounded women in the battle field brings more motivation and aggression in the men to fight against the enemy. Another very useful way role of women in military come in to action when a search operation is needed in a civilian occupied area where the search includes searching the women of that area. Of course men soldiers will not get a welcome from the residents to search their women so the women in the active unit will carry out the task comfortably. Furthermore the civilian women and children feel comfortable talking to female soldiers rather than their male counterparts.
A more underhand issue is rape of attempts on women in military by their own male counterparts. Some critiques have allegedly stated that a military women is about three time more likely to get raped by their colleagues than a normal working women. In case of Iraq and Afghanistan, the military women were more raped by their own colleagues as compared to the insurgents. A law suit in under progress about insufficient protection to military women in United States. A significant progress in this domain is the documentary known as “The invisible War” was made on the same law suit in order to bring general public’s awareness on the issue. Whereas the experts who favor the women’s role in military state that the statistical figures of rape attempts in military has been exaggerated due to involvement of international media on the issue. Their strong argument is that a general rape or rape attempt is not caught by the international media due to its insignificance .
Experts’ Opinions
The mainstream of arguments, against and for women in the military, are fundamentally conditional which categorize into two types known as utilitarian and autonomous. The utilitarian are those people who consider the effects on society for the women’s presence in military whereas on the other hand the autonomous are those people who consider the effects of women’s presence in military on the individual woman who is serving in the military. Utilitarian kind of people are further categorized into two types. One is of those people who consider women to be not suitable for military service due to their incompetency and other is of those people who think that even if women are suitable and qualified to carry out the military duties, they should not be involved in the military service as they have to carry out other important tasks of the social life which men are unable to do like giving birth to babies etc .
Arguments in Favor of Women in Military
There are a number of arguments which support inclusion of women in military to carry out military tasks side by side with men. Few critical arguments are presented in summarized form as mentioned below:-
1. The women have work for in military roles effectively and efficiently.
2. The blanket constraint of women as class from the category of works is unfairly discriminatory ever since certain women are as interested and capable in carrying out military service as men.
3. The women must have rights of equivalent access for all sort of appointments, including the military roles.
4. Equality of men and women according to citizenship rights clearly implies equality for the sacrifice especially in potential of military tasks as well for the equality of opportunity.
5. Because of the population profiles, it can be observed that the number of men eligible to carryout military service during the 1980s have declined consequently resulting in reliance of the military upon women.
Arguments against Women in Military
1. Military combating is a men’s domain of work.
2. Military environment and particularly combat environment is not suitable for women as it does not provide suitable protection to them as provided to other women.
3. Women are weaker than men physically.
Conclusion
The careful study of women’s role in military has set forth that despite the limited roles of women in military applications the significance of these roles have proved that women are an essential entity of any military unit. The role of women in modern warfare has increased from nursing and medics to active combating for search operations as well as flying fighter aircrafts. It is evident from the study that women are quite effective in carrying out their role as military personnel which clearly indicate that the governments of today must review their policies in order to include women to play their roles in active military units.
Works Cited
Helena, Carreiras. Women in the Military and in Armed Conflict. New York City (NY): Springer, 2008. Print.
Margaret, Conrad Devilbiss. Women and Military Service: A History, Analysis, and Overview of Key Issues. Darby (PA): DIANE Publishing, 1990. Print.
Nancy, Gibbs. "Sexual Assaults on Female Soldiers: Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Time Magazine (2010). Print.
Rita, James Simon. Women in the Military. Piscataway (NJ): Transaction Publishers, 2001. Print.
Steven, Lee Myers. "Living and Fighting Alongside Men, and Fitting In." The New York Times (2009). Print.
