Women in Combat
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Along with gun control and abortion, the issue of women serving in combat in the military remains an explosive and controversial issue. Under President Clinton, Defense Secretary Les Aspin ordered changes in policy that removed ôsubstantial risk of captureö from the list of grounds for excluding women from specific military units along with abolishing the ôrisk ruleö (Freddoso 2003, 1). Two females were killed in the USS Cole bombing and in the war against Iraq three females were captured, including the killing of Pfc. Lori Ann Peistawa, a 23-year-old mother of two. Regardless of the controversy surrounding women serving in combat or high-risk units, Penny Calder (2003) argues that ôDespite the traditional view of women as nurturers and carers whose role is primarily to keep the home fires burning, there is a long history of female warriors and other women for whom war has been a turning pointö (2). Whether dressing as men during the Civil War or risking their lives to provide support services in high-risk situations, women have sacrificed their lives in war. Women deserve the option to serve their country in combat as excluding them from equal military opportunities with men is discriminatory. There are a variety of reasons why women deserve the choice to serve their country. Many argue that such a choice is the rightful option of the female gender. Opponents of women serving in combat or high-risk units often claim that women should be excluded f
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dangerous careers. Hundreds of thousands of women have served their nations in a credible fashion. Many who oppose women serving in the military argue that a woman serving in such missions is a dangerous trend for society. As Elaine Donnelly, former member of the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces, argues, ôThe fact that three of our women were capturedàto me it is not a step forward for women it is a step backwards for civilizationö (Adeboyejo 2003, 8). Despite such sentiments, such a collapse of civilization has not occurred due to women serving in combat. Quite the contrary, womenÆs success during such endeavors has proven the opposite. As Lory Manning, director of the Women in the Military Project, explains, ôThousands of women are over there and every one of them has gone above and beyond the call of dutyùtheyÆve done their jobs, theyÆve done them as well as men, and the three women who were in 507 Maintenance handled themselves very bravelyö (Adeboyejo 2003, 8). The 507 Maintenance reference refers to the ordeal of three women in the current war on Iraq, one of them the now celebrated Jessica Lynch who was saved in a successful rescue mission. Many argue that such episodes show that women are as brave and tough
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2341
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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