Should Women be Allowed to Serve on the Frontlines?

                                                                                                    image courtesy AP.

This is an interesting question that has been put under the guise of inequality for women. Currently, in the US Military, women do not serve on the "front" front line in a combat role. The problem is this: should the military let them serve "because they are equals", or do we keep the rules the same because of ability restrictions? I think it all depends on how you define "equals". In most cases, a woman does NOT have the upper body strength that a man does. This limits her ability to fight in combat in certain situations that are guaranteed to arise in unconventional warfare. A male soldier is injured, and a female needs to carry him and his gear to safety. Can she really pick him up?


Feminists and women's rights groups have been fighting for this for a while. I certainly think it is an agenda of theirs, but in the analysis of combat operations, as much as the Pentagon would like to provide equal opportunities for women soldiers, nature has done the discriminating, not the US Military. If the Pentagon were to claim they are not discriminating against female soldiers, I would agree. If a woman passed the rigorous tests that are set upon men, then she should be allowed to serve on the front lines. If she fails, she fails with the other men that did not cut it. The bar should NOT be set lower for women. Why? this is COMBAT.


Certainly soldiers will each have their independent views. Perhaps the Pentagon should re-evaluate career advancement opportunities for women, because this is what feminists are complaining about. Women may have the same spirit and drive as men in the US military, but remember, nature discriminated when it designed bone structure and muscle strength.


Thanks to a reader who pointed this out to me. Nature did not "design" anything. We evolved through gradual steps to our current makeup today through the process of evolution. 5/20/2012