Gender Roles In The Military Essay

Being a girl is hard, women have been the second best since the beginning of time, women weren’t allowed to do a man's job in the military and it’s time that further evolves into women and men doing all of the same jobs. Although, some may argue that keeping women protected from the harsh realities of war is the reasonable thing to do and those people have a valid argument when they say women aren’t emotionally stable enough to fight on the front lines, or that women aren’t strong enough to serve; this applies to some women not all. Women have proven themselves capable of so much more than the standard that is set for them in the military: overcoming their physical differences and putting the excuses to rest. The excuses about being a distraction to men and that women are going to be prioritized over fighting.

An important change in the role of Australian women was their participation in military services. In October 1940, the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force was established and quickly followed by the women’s Army and Navy forces. Women began to join in the military services and to work in these services. “They lived and worked under the same conditions as the men.” It was said by Lorna Byrne, who was a member of the AWAS (Australian Women’s Auxiliary Service).

American women have participated in defense of this nation in both war and peacetime. Their contributions, however, have gone largely unrecognized and unrewarded. While women in the United States Armed Forces share a history of discrimination based on gender, black women have faced both race and gender discrimination. Initially barred from official military status, black women persistently pursued their right to serve. At the outset of World War I, many trained black nurses enrolled in the American Red Cross hoping to gain entry into the Army or Navy Nurse Corps.

Still, despite continued barriers, there are also some hopeful signs. After decades of resisting efforts by women and their supporters to fully participate in the mission of the U.S. military, the Defense Department in early December announced it would open up all roles, including combat roles, to women. Critics of gender equality in the military – as in other predominantly male fields – have argued that women lacked the physical characteristics of strength and stamina necessary to succeed. They often argued that in fields such as the military or public safety, women’s supposed inferiority could endanger troops or civilians.

In the book written by (Gavin, 1997) it was cited that “As women took over from their absent men in hundreds of new and challenging occupations, many of which had previously been considered inappropriate”. From the beginning of the World War 1, the German women were participating a great deal. They contributed to half a million-people working on the munitions manufacturing alone (Gavin, 1997). It also mentioned in the book that over in the U.S, the men in charge refused to let the women participate up until April 1917 (Gavin, 1997). The U.S government never formally authorize the enrolment of women, despite Army officials repeatedly asking for such personnel’s.

The women of the early 20th century showed that they have the ability to be productive in the work place and fight for the greater good of the United States of America. In modern times women have started joining combat roles in the military and increasing in demographical size in the military. This has shown that women are striving to be more equal to men in all aspects of modern life. By showing they can fight in wars and hold their own against our nations enemies they can and will be seen as equals. The public celebration of women’s history in the United States began in 1978.

During World War II, Woman’s were assembled for duty in the Canadian Armed Forces, for the first time. The armed force was shy of men in war services and administration, which lead the Canadian government to choose and declare on August 13, 1941 to give woman’s the privilege to take an interest in war utility. 50,000 women were enlisted and more than half provided service in the Canadian Army. Most were doled out occupations including customary female work, for example, cooking, clothing and administrative obligations, also woman had pioneer roles in the mechanized and specialized fields. The Canadian Women 's Army Corps (CWAC) performed fundamental administrations, both at home and abroad, that achieved Allied victory.

The nature of the Second World War blurred the line between the conventional and unconventional roles for women. As the war progress, the idea of total war, where all people are mobilized behind the war effort, even if they cannot hold a rifle or fire artillery, became regnant. Women left the home and were thrust into roles which were previously held by men and with which they were not familiar, but nonetheless contributed substantially to the war. In the west, women took a more auxiliary role than in the USSR. The departure of men from the factories and to the front lines created a vacuum, which women were sucked into. In the United States and Great Britain, women were charged with “doing their part” to ensure that the men on front lines were

The needs of the armed forces, the war economy and the deployment of men overseas created new jobs and opportunities for women. Before World War 2, they were not permitted to enlist in the military services, most of them were working in factories, shops or family businesses. From late 1940, Australian women were permitted and encouraged to enlist in the military services. Australian Women’s Army Service (A.W.A.S.) established the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force, Army and Navy forces. Lorna Byrne who used to be a member of the Australian Women’s Army Services (A.W.A.S.) said that women lived and worked under the same conditions as men.

During the Second World War, after many of the men left to join the battle overseas, women were once again given the task of running the nation, and in order to do so they took over traditionally ‘masculine’ jobs, such as working in munitions bunkers, and on farms. By doing so, women were able to keep the economy running, which helped pay for war efforts and even provided the nation with more jobs. Contrary to WWI, women were now encouraged to take on more jobs directly related to the ongoing war. For instance, on the home front, an approximation of 35 000 women were working in munitions factories, making the artillery for the soldiers. Not to mention, for the first time in Canadian history, new positions in the military such as Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRENS) and the Women Division (WD) in The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were created so that women were able to contribute more towards the war efforts.

Many women have proven themselves in the military for example, General Ann E. Dunwoody, the first woman

People think of women as being hurt, and being took down by other people. In combat all you do is focus on strength. If your a women you always have the fear of not being strong enough up against someone else. But in combat that 's one thing that the commanders focus on. Strength matters, to your commanders, partners, and to your army.

In the feature article “All Guts, No Glory”, I agree with the author Molly M. Ginty, that women participating in combat. If I was in the military some of the things that might affect me would be probably because of my gender. First, women would not be put into battle because people think women cannot handle the work or bloodshed. They think women are better off bring a nurse for helping men in battle if they get injured. Second, they think women in combat would be a distraction.

But it wasn’t till May 1942 that congress began to allow women to enroll in the U.S Army, and by 1945 there were over 6,000 female officers at work (History.com Staff, 2010). Roughly 350,000 women joined the armed services and served both at home and abroad. (History.com Staff, 2010). During this war a group of women called WASPs, or Women’s Airforce Service Pilots were the first women to fly an American Military aircraft (History.com Staff, 2010). There were also women in the army who helped build weapons, planes, bombs and even tanks to help the soldiers fighting World War Two (“Rosie the Riveter - U-S-History.com”).

Caylee Premo Dr. Bob English 102 19 April 2017 Women in the Military Draft The United States military is one of the most important and largest job sources within America, with supplying far over a million jobs to people across the country, this including both men and women. These jobs are given to people who chose the path to gain them; however, this does not highlight the military draft and the people chosen by it. Currently only men above the age of eighteen and below the age of forty, are chosen by a mailed notice, and drafted into the military, if an imminent emergency were to present itself; however, it would be beneficial to the country if women were also accepted into the draft.