Originally posted by ChinaNiki
That's not the only part of the problem. In general people don't like to see women in combat because there is still this idea that they couldn't handle it. But then from the time you are a little girl society is telling you that you can't handle it because you are a girl so you are not as good as a man no matter how hard you try. As a girl you are not supposed to get too strong or you will be considered unfeminine, but to be considered feminine you have to be weak in some way or at least appear to be weak so men can feel strong. I'm so tired of this BS. I'm tired of women being held to a different standard so we don't upset delicate male egos around the world.
In fact that is a very large part of the problem I described. That having women in the field reduces the effectiveness of the men isn't really much down to the fact that they are trying to see the pretty girls- but because they feel an obligation to protect the women.
Ands yes, this is born out of an erroneous thinking that the women need the men's protection in the army. Yes it is dumb, but all thearmy can do is acknowledge it is so, it cannot magic it away- it is not the army's job to promote social reform, after all; if society ever does re-form to the point where men did not feel that way about women then the question could be re-examined.
And it is not ALL men, of course. In fact a very great deal of men, especially younger men, these days pretty much see women as exact equals and a lot of women never see any inequality in their loives at all. But- and no insult intended to the common soldier- the sort of guy that typically gets recruited for the army is probably more likely to be the sort who still has an outdated attitude to women, if you see what I mean.
Ok, here's my thoughts on all this, just my opinion tho. I don't think females should be on the frontline, in war. I'm not sayin male lives are less important, but 1 man can have 20 kids born at the same time, yet 1 woman can only have the 1 child. If women were off possibly being killed it wouldn't be good for the population. Plus men i'm told feel naturally protective of women, and would do anything to help, I don't think guys should be trained to not be this way. Also, why send girls to war when there's perfectly healthy men sat at home doin nuthin, if in a non war situation a guy sat back & let a girl fight for him he'd be expected to be the one to handle it. If women want to fight, then they should have to do everything the guys do to exactly the same standard. Yeah in normal everyday life an employer, like mine, can't not employ us coz guys can do more, but war is life & death. This is just my opinion tho, I know some women don't want kids & would love to be in war, but also, I think they're in the minority. Personally i'd do all I could to support our forces except go to war. I'm twice the size of most guys, but probably not even 1/2 their strength. I like a guy that will protect me & would prefer to be keeping the work at home, as in the countries businesses going & with the kids than in a warzone