Argumentative Essay: Women in Combat Forces - Gender Roles

This argumentative essay delves into the contentious issue of women's participation in combat forces, examining the historical and societal factors that have shaped military policies. The essay critiques the patriarchal notions and gender stereotypes that have historically limited women's roles, w...Read More

Argumentative Essay
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The essay seeks to elucidate the reasons that substantiate the facts supporting the
participation of the women into combat force. The military policy that prevents the
participation of the women in the military roles, has received a considerable number of
defense in favor of that policy. Without any doubt, it can be stated that such ban is rooted in
the age long patriarchal notion involving the preconceived gender role as well as its
celebration. The course of the essay seeks to elucidate the same and discuss with a certain
depth the implication of such notion on the participation of the women.
Undoubtedly, the issues of the role played by women in the military of US is one of
the major issue related to gender. However, in depth such imposition or preconceived notion
is a play of power. Concern of Elshtain in this respect is not the women in particular but the
feelings and the dispositions that they have to go through as a part of their involvement in the
military. In her quoting, she voiced a women soldier in the time of the Second World War
who opined that she felt alive when she was in the battle field. However, surveys have proved
that women have been faced with discriminated opportunities in terms of their roles in the
military. The line of argument involved went along the direction where it stated that the
women lack physical fitness to serve the purpose of the military requirement. The arguments
provided were deep rooted in patriarchy ad stated in the beginning of the essay. Captain Katie
Petronius went ahead to comment upon the fact that women are capable of executing the
responsibilities at the military field however the longevity of such roles have been doubted by

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him (Simon). Such assumption is deeply rooted in the misogynistic outlook that the male
dominated discourse impose upon its citizens (McGraw, Koehlmoos, and Ritchie).
The defenses poised against the involvement of the women in the combat force
revolved around the line that the women might be medically unfit to serve the armed force
but it has been said by military personals that such cases of medical fitness can be overcome
with the involvement of proper training and medical facilities. Therefore, in case of recruiting
a person in a job role, the involvement of the dimension of gender is arbitrary. Security
Council of UN needs to be blamed as it had limited the participation of the individuals from
different gender. Therefore, the current situation demands regendering of the military sphere.
On the contrary, it can be argued the involving participants from different gender into the
military is capable of bringing about diversity in the organization as well as strengthen the
structure of the military. In this context in needs to be realized that the military domain, there
has been a notable decrease in the number of the voluntary participation. As such, opening up
the job role might enhance the participation of people in a voluntary manner. Military can
prove to be a career for women where by the subversion of the conceived gender role is
possible to a great extent. The contemporary time has experienced a turning of the table as a
number of conventionally male dominated sphere has experienced active participation of
women. Its due time for the military to take the lead (Duncanson and Woodward).
The repercussion that the women participants into the military sphere might phase is
the ones of being the political prisoners. The war has experienced several cases of inhuman
brutalities perpetrated against the prisoners. Undoubtedly, the cases of sexual harassments
perpetrated at the prisoners needs to blamed irrespective of the gender and the cases are also
the same as men are sexually victimized in the prison. However, in the misogynistic
patriarchal world, it won’t be wrong to assume that women would be subjected to rape and
sexual assaults in case of prison related violence (Meger).

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Therefore, in conclusion it can be said that the sphere of military and warfare is still
dominated by men and patriarchal discourse however at the same time it needs to be realize
that in order to dismantle the same patriarchal structure it is required of the women to break
the age long stereotypes associated with it. Participation of women would not only enhance
the equality in the sphere, but at the same time would create a new job opportunities for the
women to venture. The repercussions of sexual violence can be mitigated by involving
women in potential military role, as such it might be initiating steps towards breaking the
preconceived notion.

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Work Cited
Duncanson, Claire, and Rachel Woodward. "Regendering the military: Theorizing women’s
military participation." Security dialogue 47.1 (2016): 3-21.
McGraw, Kate, Tracey Perez Koehlmoos, and Elspeth Cam Ritchie. "Women in combat:
framing the issues of health and health research for America's
servicewomen." Military medicine 181.suppl_1 (2016): 7-11.
Meger, Sara. Rape loot pillage: The political economy of sexual violence in armed conflict.
Oxford University Press, 2016.
Simon, Rita James. Women in the Military. Routledge, 2018.