Women in the U. S. Army and Military

Since the American Revolution, women have been an essential aspect when it comes to our US Military. In 1943, the Women’s Army Corps was creating, allowing women to officially have the power to enlist in the military – during this time, many women who did faced propaganda that was cruel enough to backtrack that enlistment. On one hand, over the years, the allowance of women in branches of the armed services have changed for the good, letting many women to succeed and excel through new jobs and specialties, as well as changing society as whole.

Yet in contrast, women have and still face many consequences and stereotypes because of who they are and commonly seen as “less capable” of doing certain tasks or jobs unlike men, in all questioning the reliability and integrity of how Armed Forces and their mission statements.

Back in 2015, former Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter announced that women would have and still have been more inclusive in combat jobs and training, those of which had been more commonly given to men. In order to both propose and promote this proposal, a change in Army culture had to be made, as well as all other branches of the armed forces needed to ensure the success of women who choose to enter said forces. With this came complications, officials had to become more aware of the sexism that was going to continue to arise as “equality” seemed more reasonable causing women to seemingly have to continue to push, if not even harder, to go above the standards given in order to prove themselves, commonly having their accomplishments dismissed or not “celebrated or appreciated” until it was beneficial. These complications are very common and in both the armed forces as well as life overall for women that prevents them from doing their jobs and “accomplishing the missions” needed to be done.

Stereotypes based on gender and institutional bias are no secret within the military, especially to women. When it comes to these stereotypes, researchers have “broken down” these forms of sexism in two separate distinctions – hostile and benevolent. Hostile sexism is negative and typically the most obvious to anyone while benevolent sexism is a little less revealing – both showing and deeming women automatically less capable and lesser on the “totem pole,” limiting their roles in society. These stereotypes and beliefs are not only shown in the lives of women in the armed forces but as well as women involved in an aspect in society, especially in male-dominated professions, such as the STEM field.

Many studies have given different assessments showing the issues and attitudes facing the Army as it shifts to integrate itself completely. Although most would agree that equality of both men and women is something that is important, there are also just as many who are against women and the will to push for the same rights for women involved in the military. Additionally, women, especially those in combat, tends to be highly controversial as it challenges our societal expectations of gender roles and opportunity, as well as military effectiveness and readiness of direct on the ground combat situations.

The individual rights and responsibility of any person is what really defines us and sets us apart from others. Female citizens are individuals with the same rights and opportunities as those who are male when it comes to any situation, including the defense of our own country. Women seemingly join the military for the same reasons men do, whether it is to promote or find that sense of patriotism, showing their love for their country, or a just dedicating themselves to the duties of the armed forces. Women are often considered as noble as men when it comes to things as simple as volunteering or serving in units of combat – even when regardless of gender, service members are required to meet the same particular standards when determining the assignments and jobs that they will be given. Because of this, women should have just as much of an equal chance of getting assigned to the very front lines of a battle field just like men can if they meet the standards and tests it takes them to qualify to. Many argue against this chance considering many believe that women do not obtain the same endurance and strength as men therefore making a male automatically more qualified for the front lines, despite the proportion, even though it is small, of women who do have the same qualities if not even more of the ability and will to stand up and fight against men.

Following that opposition, people also argue that women will be more prone and distracted by relationships and ultimately pregnancies. Underlying that issue of romance, comes the undermining of sexual harassment – where women ultimately have to keep their composure and causes their work to become harder and more difficult when an instance like this is over their heads. The deployment readiness “standards” is looked at for a very long extent when it comes to a woman’s readiness to be deployed around the world at any time – although pregnancy is a concern, it does have some weigh on military readiness.

Overall, the military and its mission as a whole need to focus on defending our country rather than worrying about the gender of its’ soldiers and sailors. Gender is always going to be an issue and concern by many when it comes to women in any workforce, but focusing on the endurance, strength, and overall readiness for the certain task and job is very essential and should be a bigger part rather than the separation of man and woman.

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