Women In The Military Essay Example for Free

Women In The Military Essay Women in the military has been a controversial topic for many years now, and the roles they play in the armed services. In this paper I will discuss the roles women have occupied, and if they should be allowed to participate on the front lines in war. This has been a topic receiving more attention as the years progress. It used to be never customary for women to be involved in war in any way, but as civil rights has been more of an issue so has women going to war. The women want to be equal to men, but the question is can they handle doing what the men can do on the front lines. It is well known women provide good services and do a fine jobs working up the ranks in the military. They have grown in numbers and have gained more respect in recent years by using their knowledge and skills. However, they are still not prevalent in mass numbers during fighting in battles of war. I will try to balance out the positives and negatives of this topic then give my personal opinion on this widely discussed issue. It has been longed believed that men are suppose to be the warriors and the ones who fight to protect his family or country. That has been the basic theory for all the past years, so the women had no influence on war at all. Even back in the civil war days women had no part in the war in any way. They were expected to take care of the kids and the house hold has the men went off to fight. They did not even realize what was really going on, because they had knowledge how war was fought. This has been the way because of womens physical characteristics. In general women are not as big or strong as men, so they have been considered weak and not able to battle. For the maturity of women compared to men that is a true statement. They do not have the physical size, strength, or speed as men do for the most part. There are always exceptions, but for maturity that is a basic fact. The physical characteristic differences in women from men defiantly play a major part in them not fighting in the front the lines. When people go to war they carry extremely heavy backpacks on their backs all the time. Those backpacks are how they survive in the times they are not near their bases. Those packs are also very heavy along with all the clothes they have to wear as well. Most women could not travel with those packs on there backs for to long with out becoming fatigue then naturally slowing the group the down. The military eliminates men or women that would slow them down in battle, because time is of essence. The women would also have a hard time handling the guns the military uses. They use heavy machinery and powerful weapons that are difficult to handle. It is not an easy job to hold a gun in place when it kicks back every time the trigger is pulled. Most women would just become too fatigued, since there physical characteristics are not equal to men, so that therefore would be a negative affect with women on the front lines. The number of women in the armed forces has grown dramatically since World War II. During WWII women were mostly nurses so were suppose to take care of men. However, as America went deeper into the war, the women needed to play greater roles. They were called on to work in factories to build the weapons needed, and take more responsibilities in the medical teams. After WWII of course the civil rights movement started to grow stronger for more women rights. Women felt they could be more than just a housewife or a nurse. Some women went into the working field, while others wanted to be in the military. By the time the Gulf War started in the early 1990s there were numerous amounts of women in all areas of the armed forces. Women proved themselves to be disciplined and tough in the military, as well as sources of knowledge. Women think about things and see some situations differently than men. They can bring a new perspective to things, which helps develop better strategies in war. Women now have high ranks in all the armed forces and help protect America as well as any man. Women are also a lot more emotional than men are. This is another reason why women shouldnt be in the military, especially during times of war. They could not fight being all emotional. Once again for the maturity men can put on a tougher face and do the job without worrying what they are doing, while they are doing it. It is not an easy task for any sane person to kill someone or watch someone die without having some sort of emotion. However, they have to look past that for the time being or they could be in danger for letting there guard down. It is much more likely for women to care too much about the people dieing next to them when it happens. The group has to be willing to let that person go and continue at the task at hand. For the most part men can look past that persons death, without having to cry or worry about it while there still fighting. Most women could not handle what occurs in war. Womens numbers in the military has increased a lot because they have one many civil rights battles, and the fact there are a number of jobs available in the military other than actual combat. The military needs more to be successful than just good fighters. More jobs have opened up since the advancing technology and number of people in the military. The military offers excellent educational opportunities and other jobs such as engineers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, journalist, writers, accountants, and etcetera. With all those different jobs needed in the military in some way, there has been a lot of openings. Women can achieve just as good education or better than men, and have the opportunity to acquire those jobs. This benefits the military greatly because there is a variety, which can only help increase brain power. Traditionally through out time women are not supposed to fight in war. Women were thought of to never have what it takes to be a warrior in the eyes of men. They were not as big, strong, fast, or smart was the theory. Even Aristotle and Plato developed theories how women did not have enough courage or virtue to be able to fight. They felt they lacked that killer instinct. Basically, it has just been custom for men to battle and be the provider and for the women to take care of the home. Times are changing where women are equal to men, but it is hard to break something that has held true for so many years. Another positive to women fighting though is it increases the number of people. In theory if there are more people on one side chances are they are going to win the war. The army could just out number the opponent, so they could just dominate that way. It would be more intimating to fight with a lot more people than normal, and the enemy would be more likely to back down. Also something holds true about the saying safety in numbers. It is never good to have soldiers killed in battle, but the more people you have the more people you can afford to loose without being overrun by lack of numbers. Throughout this paper I have shown some of the positive and negative aspects of women in the military, especially women going into war. After researching this topic I have developed my own opinion on this issue. I now believe women are needed in the military to perform several jobs, but I do not feel they should be in battle. There are a number of opportunities to take advantage of in the military, where one will never have to go to war. People can work with intelligence agencies, on the medical staff, scientists, or professional jobs such as doctors, lawyers, or journalists. Women can filll the need for these jobs and others just as well as a man could. However, I believe in the traditional thinking that women should not be in battle. I also dont think they have the physical capabilities to handle war. There are some that could, but war is too physically and emotionally demanding for the maturity of women to handle.