So Many Gender Barriers Abolished in One Lifetime
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Though I still harbor a doubt or two in terms of the sheer practicality of the thing, I salute the U.S. military for officially junking the rule against women in combat. About time.
We think of the armed forces as tradition-bound, but they have been forerunners in such matters. It was way back in the late 1940s that President Harry S. Truman integrated the services racially. And by the time I entered the Army in 1960, I was taken with how equality in the ranks had become an absolute, everyday reality — in stark contrast with many ugly aspects of civilian life.
Now that women are free, in principle, at least, to fight on the front lines (if there are such things anymore), it’s hard to think of a single official gender barrier that remains standing in American society. Oh, women still can’t play in the NFL, I suppose, but what the heck.
Last week’s announcement set me to thinking about how much progress we have made toward sexual equality just in my lifetime. There’s still much to be overcome in matters of attitudes. But to give you an idea of the magnitude of the change over the past few decades, consider a handful of random personal recollections. (You probably have some of your own. If so, feel free to share.)
For openers, let’s go all the way back to my grade school days at Eugene Field Elementary in Carthage, Mo. I still remember how proud I was when I achieved the exalted position of Crossing Guard in my eighth-grade year. I got to wear a neat white shoulder strap with a big silver badge and everything. It never occurred to me to wonder why this job was open only to Patrol Boys.
In fact, there was no such thing as a Patrol Girl. Instead, female students had to content themselves with wearing smaller, different-shaped badges and serving as something called Playground Monitors. I don’t remember wondering why. That was just the way things were.
Then there was the Junior ROTC program at Carthage High School — in which I got to march as a member of the Drill Team and the Color Guard, target-shoot on the Rifle Team and serve as a cadet company commander.
Girls, of course, were barred from any of that. Instead, I am ashamed to report, each company was able to vote for one pretty girl who would don a uniform and march with us up front in parades, just for show. Their title was “Sponsor,” for some reason, but “Mascot” would have been more appropriate.
As for those three years I spent in the Army during the early 1960s, I have no memories of any women in any roles, whether as enlisted personnel or officers — never mind combat. There must have been some in personnel offices or whatever, but I don’t recall ever encountering one.
Next: There were a lot of girls at Southwest Missouri State, of course. We referred to them rather condescendingly as “coeds.” And I do have one specific classroom memory that is so embarrassingly offensive that you might think I’m making it up.
On the first day of a freshman history course, there were only a few girls in the class. And during his orientation, the crusty old crewcut professor went to the window, pointed to a building next door and — I swear — delivered himself of the following message, just so we’d know where he stood on the matter of this coeducational studies thing: If he had his way, he said, that building would be turned into a cotton mill, and all the female students would be sent there to work instead of taking up space in his class.
There were a few nervous giggles. But many of us, even then, sat there in shock, wondering how anyone could get away with saying such a thing, academic freedom or no. To my knowledge, though, nobody thought to blow the whistle on that male chauvinist old reprobate.
I don’t know what the male/female ratio is today at SMS (which has more recently put on airs and changed its name to Missouri State). But at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the mix is now something like 60 percent female. And in some journalism classes with which I happen to be familiar, it’s more like 90 to 95 percent.
And now, if they choose, they can go risk their lives in war, just like the guys.
That’s an odd kind of progress, perhaps. But it’s progress. To quote that old Virginia Slims cigarette jingle, which itself now sounds a bit insulting in its own way: You’ve come a long way, baby.
Steve Bouser is opinion editor of The Pilot. Contact him at (910) 693-2470 or by email at sbouser@thepilot.com.
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Comments
SH59 3 months, 3 weeks ago
I've never understood why women couldn't do something if they were good at it and wanted to do it.
babiehop 3 months, 3 weeks ago
I can remember when I was a small kid my older sisters were not allowed to be hawkers for the Pilot, so my brothers would purchase papers and share them. Eventually, females were allowed to purchase papers to sell. And, dear sir, although I'm sure it is in reference to the high tech nature of combat and withdrawal of forces that you remark on the existence of fights on the front lines, but somewhere our own are in foxholes, Dover Airbase stays sadly occupied receiving the fallen, so please remember that so long as there is one in harms way, they do exist.
teufelhunden 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Not to be a wet blanket but somewhere along the line men have morphed into angry sissies. they don't feel wanted or needed or appreciated. They harbor resentment and you see it everywhere you go. No matter how far women have come they are still being objectified-worse now than ever. That's a shame.
geoffcutler 3 months, 3 weeks ago
I wonder if it isn't the "practicality" you mention that kept woman from combat, as opposed to gender barriers.
Picture, if you will, our women soldiers captured by our terrorist enemies, you know, the ones who take knives and behead their captives in front of cameras. And then imagine what they will do to these women combat soldiers before that.
Could it be that it was practicality (making sense) that attempted to avoid these potential situations, and not gender bias? I'd like to think so, because if this decision is just about breaking down gender barriers, then this might just be the most hair-brained, politically correct decision we've come up with yet.
pgericson 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Geoff- don't you think women should have the right to accept the risks facing them in the scenario you just presented? Why do they need your protection from putting themselves in harm's way?
fugitiveguy 3 months, 3 weeks ago
"then this might just be the most hair-brained, politically correct decision we've come up with yet."
I agree for the reasons you have cited. Where any of the physical standards lowered in order to allow this?
JimHeim 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Any guy who's been married a few years is well aware of women's combat capabilities. I'm surprised the Geneva Conventions don't protect the enemy from this.
JimHeim 3 months, 3 weeks ago
fugitiveguy - perhaps you could explain the hare-brained nature of this to the armies who use women in combat. You might start with Israel...
NCKen 3 months, 3 weeks ago
The military did not make this decision, the White House and its toadies in uniform did. There is a vast difference between armed females responding to episodic violent events, versus functioning and contributing to mission accomplishment in a sustained combat environment, e.g. weeks of non-stop operations in close contact with the enemy. Are there some who might perform to standard? Yes, there are. But, you'd have to expend exponential effort in recruitment, as compared to men, to produce what would be few in number, sustained by lowered standards, and novelty soldiers who create more distraction than they contribute to readiness on the ground. Progressives seem to think that military service is a jobs program for selected victim groups. Sorry, that sort of thing only flies in the Dutch Army or in a union shop. Lead. Follow. Or get the hell out of the way.
geoffcutler 3 months, 3 weeks ago
NCKen, What has the military learned about women infantry, 70lb. packs and long marches?
pgericson, if this is what women want, I'll not cause a fuss. That doesn't mean it may not prove to be utterly hair-brained.
geoffcutler 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Jim, terrorists don't give a flying fig for Geneva Conventions. Therein lies at least part of my point.
NCKen 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Geoff: All the serious Armies, e.g. Israelis, Brits, Russians, Chinese tried and disbanded female infantry units. They were unsustainable. The geniuses at the US Army Training and Doctrine Command back in the 1970s decided it would be a great 'leap forward' to conduct co-ed Basic Combat Training. It went on for 18 pain-filled months across the Army training base, before even the generals had to throw in the towel. The establishment did everything in its power, to include arithmetic contortions to put female grading curves on physical fitness standards. Virtually all of them wore running shoes instead of combat boots, because their feet could not tolerate the (often reduced) combat loads. Then there were the realities of pregnancies, of fraternization, of all the dynamics that take place in a mixed, close living quarters environment ensued. Disaster then, disaster now. Take an honest, hard look at Navy combat readiness aboard ship halfway through a float. Ship's captains will tell you privately that their biggest headaches are about female-male dynamics, about pregnancy and that discipline is either a huge resource drainer or is just pushed under the rug and ignored, and everyone hopes they don't go to war on that watch. Horror stories are already beginning to emerge about the newest brain child of the Progressives in the Pentagon, female submarine crew members. The concept of women in the ground gaining combat arms is a loser. This has nothing to do with defense, but everything to do with politics and an ideology that MUST destroy the most effective fighting force ever known. Everyone serving in the combat arms knows it, but only the Marines have the deep integrity and sense of duty to be willing to say so publicly.
clarabelle 3 months, 3 weeks ago
" geoffcutler - Jim, terrorists don't give a flying fig for Geneva Conventions. Therein lies at least part of my point."
Lighten up geoffie ............. it was a bit of HUMOR!
geoffcutler 3 months, 3 weeks ago
If you've got something to offer, bellie, feel free to join in. Or be ignored like you usually are.
teufelhunden 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Let women be snipers. Seriously, there are a lot of outstanding female marksmen or should I say markswomen out there.
teufelhunden 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Either women are objectified or they are accepted and treated like sisters not many gray areas. Too much of the first. Anyone that's been in the military has witnessed both.
SH59 3 months, 3 weeks ago
wdd101st, your attitude towards women reflects you age. This is not the draft forcing inept people to become solders. We're talking about women who want to go into battle and have the strength and toughness to be relied upon by her equals. Yes, there are women out there you wouldn't want to meet in a dark ally and if they qualify with the same standards as men then why shouldn't they fight?
emb6683 3 months, 3 weeks ago
" if they qualify with the same standards as men then why shouldn't they fight"
That will be the problem - maintaining the standards. If the standards are maintained and few women qualify, there will be pressure to either lower the standards or adopt a two-tiered set of standards. Or pressure to just pencil-whip the qualifications, as was reportedly done several years ago with the first female F-14 pilot, killed in a pilot-error crash.
The other problem will be in distracting physical relationships. If our generals can't keep their pants zipped in a combat zone, how can we expect the privates and LTs to do it?
clarabelle 3 months, 3 weeks ago
"geoffcutler - If you've got something to offer, bellie, feel free to join in. Or be ignored like you usually are."
a bit sour today geoffie? ........... take some midol!
SH59 3 months, 3 weeks ago
" I was taught to respect women. I was taught to respect my elders. I was taught to take responsibility for my actions. SH59 what were you taught?" Nothing less than above but my point is, if you are good at something and can stand up against others in the same field then it shouldn't matter what gender you are. I won't even address the disgusting and uninformed description in your second paragraph. Again your age is showing.
JimRussell44 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Men in combat, women in combat. Nobody talking about not being in combat in the first place. It's like a forgone conclusion that we are going to be at war with someone, someplace all the time. In the 21st century, in some cases we are conducting war by remote control. That trend will become more prevalent, not less prevalent. Before long, our wars will be conducted from McDill in Tampa, FL by three shifts of "warriors" who will be driving to work in their BMW's and winding down after work at a beachfront bar. I'm guessing women can do that as well as men.
packwilleat 3 months, 3 weeks ago
JimRussell ~ precisely my same exact thoughts. But sadly I also believe that women will be exploited in an upcoming middle east war. The men are tired and many are catching on to the fact that they are risking life and limb only to protect trade/global interest. It's bast time we bring ALL our forces home and strengthen our national defense and put and end to preemptive wars.
emb6683 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Also, no mention in any articles of 18 year old women now being required to register with the Selective Service as their male counterparts have had to do since the end of the draft in 1973. Lets all be equal if we ever have to start a draft again.
Middleman522 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Will someone please buy everyone a copy of "Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus"!! Please??
handyssc2 3 months, 2 weeks ago
"a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html
Women in the military have more to worry about from their comrades than the enemy sadly...
teufelhunden 3 months, 2 weeks ago
As a former WM, I can tell you that being around a ton of men can be both liberating and nerve wracking. You know what they're thinking and you just bust your butt to prove that you're not as un-sat as some of them think. I'm all for women living their dream and accomplishing what ever they set out to do but I've been there and it's definitely for men. I loved my service and learned so much but in the end and in hindsight it is and should remain a man's thing. Just my opinion. The guys I served with treated me with respect-like brothers, but I have heard some stories.
teufelhunden 3 months, 2 weeks ago
And wdd101st, great book. Read it eons ago and thought it was garbage. Now, though, I get it. ;)
teufelhunden 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Let men be men. They want to be and need to be!!!
teufelhunden 3 months, 2 weeks ago
I'm sorry, it was Middleman that was referring to Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus...
JRowerdink 3 months, 2 weeks ago
It’s curious that Steve readily accepts that women shouldn’t play in the NFL but at the same time, thinks they should be in combat. Don’t the same things that make them unsuitable to compete against men in the NFL (smaller size, less strength, etc.) make them equally unsuitable for combat?
John Rowerdink
debsalomon 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Women should not be in combat. They should be the planners, the tactical specialists, the generals, negotiators and chiefs of staff. Chances are, the world would be a more peaceful place.
Courseaire 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Actually, all the female soldiers should live together and be sent into combat once every 28 days. All our wars would be over within 2 months.
Middleman522 3 months, 2 weeks ago
teufelhunden Thank you for your service and sacrifice! I saw a sign on the wall of an SF neighbor the other day that read "joined to fight". That mindset in unique and special, and involves a true commitment. You have to understand that pain and suffering will come with that. With the lack of respect that Islamists have for women, much less American women, I don't know why a woman would want to put themselves through that. Thanks again!!
geoffcutler 3 months, 2 weeks ago
You know, handy, I think we're all aware of that the potential for rape by our own soldiers exists, but how does that make the argument for integrating women into combat positions a better one? Only TIME magazine could come up with a way to make our own look worse than our enemies.
nothingspecial 3 months, 2 weeks ago
NCKen you said it so well - no more explanation needed. It's a crazy, political move that will degrade the force pure and simple.
JimRussell44 3 months, 2 weeks ago
wdd101st: (1 day, 5 hrs ago): "Wars are not won by planes flying overhead". First off, don't say that to AFCHIEF, he thinks he's a national hero. Second: Planes, drones, boots, it really doesn't make any difference. Wars are won when we are fighting for the right cause. Perhaps it's your inexperience that is showing, since the last war this country "won" was WWII, a conflict that we were united in fighting. And finally, if I'm kidding about anything I post on here, you will be able to tell.
Spocks_Brain 3 months, 2 weeks ago
I think there are bigger issues-first all women would have to sign up for the selective service registration...guess BO didn't think of that-other issues include the masculinization of women-of course in a society where we can't go 30 seconds without a story about gays, no big deal right? I mean so many guys and gals are coming out why even have genders. And Ive even read stories stating its discriminatory for a person to have to date someone ONLY of the opposite gender-why exclude anyone. I dont think I want my women looking acting or doing everything we men do...call it division of labor. If you want your women more masculine, well be my guest..you wont find any of this crap in South America-thanks god for latin culture...
Spocks_Brain 3 months, 2 weeks ago
All these references to women and their periods vis a vis military service, needs to STOP NOW.....