Espousers of the idea that the military should not allow females to advance in rank and duty, let alone be active participants in the military, argue that according to the numbers, there has been a steady increase in the number of reported female rapes, sexual assaults, and harassments within military training bases, which has caused much concern to arise over whether females should be allowed to actively serve in the military. Some conservative Republicans in Congress surmise that this increase in reports vindicates an end to a gender-blind, modern American military and that we should resort back to a time when we did not have women holding many positions within the military, save nurses and other medical staff.
Those who support a fully gender-integrated military effectively argue that the numbers of reported gender related crimes is on a steady decrease. In fact, since 1988, between 1988 and 1995, the percentage of military women who reported that they had received uninvited and unwanted sexual attention from someone at work decreased from 64% to under 50%. Proponents of a fully gender-blind military also argue that the reason why there are so many reports of sexual misconduct within the military is because of the fact that there just aren’t enough women in the military at all ranks: unless females are treated as equals to men, the men will continue to mistreat our females.
There is one obstacle that prevents a full integration of women in the military... The US Congress. That’s right, our very own Congress refuses to fully gender-integrate the military. Their excuse? Women cannot match the level of physical and mental pressure that their male counterparts can. They believe that females are more liable to crack under pressure and are prone to let their judgment impair the decisions they make out on the battlefield and in other situations.
This kind of thinking is condescending, demeaning, and goes against the very principles that form the foundation that this nation was built upon. If we, as Americans, wish to progress as a people, we MUST allow ourselves to stop discriminating against those of different races and of the opposite sex. If we wish for our military to be even stronger than it already is, we must allow all those qualified to be leaders to step up, regardless of skin color and/or race. We must not allow ourselves to fall back into a period of discrimination. For we have seen the effects of discrimination that has for the over two centuries of this county’s existence divided us and caused us to go into a bloody civil war.
We owe it to our ancestors, we owe it to our females, and we owe it to all those who gave their lives- so that all Americans could live to be equal, regardless of age, gender, or race- to stop the discrimination. If we allow ourselves to permit discrimination against a single group of people, we are justifying discrimination against any group of people. If we allow our women to be discriminated against in the military, a lot more is at stake than most may realize. This issue, the issue of the discrimination of a minority, if left unchecked and unsolved, will be the issue that tears America apart. Let us remember, we are our own enemies. Only we have the ability to destroy ourselves and we cannot permit this to happen.
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