SHOULD WOMEN BE IN COMBAT?

Doris Gantt
ENG 102
Research Writing
Date: August 27, 2013
For decades, there have been countless debates over the issue of women and their involvement in the United States Armed Forces. One of the hot-button issues involves their participation in combat, an issue which has resulted in extremely divided opinions. To this day, it continues to be a Left-versus-Right, Feminists-versus-Traditionalists debate. As a woman with experience serving in the United States Armed Forces, I am positive women can participate in all facets of military duty. From clerical, technical, medical, supply, and general support to more combative field and rescue scenarios, women can be as reliable as their male counterparts.
The current sentiments regarding gender indicate that women are no longer viewed as incapable of taking on responsibilities that have been traditionally dominated by men. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, women started to deviate from the customary homemaker lifestyles and began finding success in furthering their education as well as their professional careers. Women have viewed themselves simply as more successful because of their abilities to manage both their professional and personal lives. However, this does not mean the mindset of women and their inabilities to carry out male-dominated roles has been completely eradicated. As with all things, there is always going to be an opposition. Every opinion has its detractor. In this case women are not considered to be equal to men for various reasons such as physical characteristics, mental makeup, and a host of social reasons.
Although approximately 14% of American women are in the Armed Forces (Dutra et al. 2011), military policies restrict their eligibility for combat. Despite these restrictions, it has been found that women have also engaged in hand-to-hand combat, but at an