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Amanda Libbie Kelebit

Lecturer Miss Indra Mohini
English 104
3rd August 2009

Men and Women Serving Together in Military Units:

Men and women should not serving together in military units

Physical differences, leadership and sexual assault are the factors contribute to the

issue regarding men and women serving together in military units. The statement regarding

men and women serving together in military units is meant that two different entities work as

one in armed forces. The main point at the mean time is about the factors of men and women

involve together in military units. Some would support this statement; some would rather on

the opposition side. Men and women were classified as a group called gender. Men are

subjected as masculine entities whereas women are subjected as feminine entities.

According to Wikipedia, the word gender comes from Middle English word “gendre”

which means ‘kind’, ‘type’ or ‘sort’. It comprises that there is a range of differences between

men and women, extending from the biological to the social level. As a verb, it means breed

in the King James Bible: 1616 “Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind” –

Leviticus 19:19. But in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED1, Volume 4,

1900) notes the original meaning of gender as ‘kind’ had already become obsolete. So, it

means that men and women are no longer two different entities but more as same level of

human being. So, what does this related to military units? Military units are easily defined as

involvement of men or women or both in the combat and armed forces during preparatory or
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war time. It implicate that both men and women have the freedom in choosing themselves

whether serving together in military units is the right choice or not.

Furthermore, military is related with war and war is related with renaissance.

According to Castiglione, being too tall or too short can hinder the development of a man's

athletic skills (p. 34). The Renaissance man is also literally well-rounded: he should be agile

and strong, with "shapely" limbs (Castiglione, p. 30, line 26). Renaissance women must also

fulfil specific requirements. Though they should develop their bodies as well as their minds,

Renaissance women should not undertake strenuous activities, as even dancing too

energetically can impede her "womanly sweetness," (Castiglione, p. 35, line 192). Neither

men nor women should take sport--or anything else--too seriously because being well-

rounded is more important than being a specialist. In simpler term, Castiglione stated that

men and women have his or her own roles in the world.

The main question is that whether men and women that have physical differences can

serve together in military units. As a general, men have better physical strength compared to

women, whereas women are prone to injury. “Army doctors found that eight times as many

women as men were being discharged during basic training [...]. Differences in strength, bone

mass, stride length and lower body bone structure caused women to suffer disproportionately

from Achilles tendon problems, knee, back and leg pain, and fractures of the tibia, foot, and

hip.” (Qtd. in Army- GIBT 4). Prof. Charles Moskos, a respected military sociologist and

member of the Congressional Commission, wrote in the panel’s Final Report:

“I am particularly perturbed by the high physical injury rate of women trainees

compared to men. Likewise, I am put off by the double-talk in training standards that

often obscures physical strength differences between men and women. The

extraordinarily high dropout rate of women in IET cannot be overlooked (nor should
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the fact that females are more than twice as likely to be non-deployable than are male

service members). The bottom line must be what improves military readiness.” (2).

Apart from that, women were plainly viewed to be less productive than men in most

situations especially in military units. “This might have been due to lack of physical strength,

lack of initiative, family responsibilities, more sick days, etc., and jobs were correspondingly

divided into those suitable for each sex, such as light work for women and heavy for men.”

(T. Petersen, V. Snartland and E.M.M. Milgrom 16)

But this does not mean that women cannot serve in military, it just that the field that

these women serve maybe not as broad as men in military units. “[E]stablished boundaries:

“Women may be assigned to all units except those with a high probability of engaging in

ground combat, direct exposure to enemy fire, or direct physical contact with the enemy.”

(Vogel). Women should be allowed to play a full role in military units in spite of being

discriminate by the world view. “The erasure of distinctions between the sexes is not only the

most striking issue of our time, it may be the most profound the race has ever confronted.”

(U.S. News and World Report). In April 1993, President Clinton’s newly appointed Secretary

of Defense, Les Aspin, issued an order. It contained new historic words. “The services shall

permit women to compete for assignments in aircraft, including aircraft engaged in combat

missions.” (Vogel).

On the other hand, a leadership factor is a vital role in military units. So, how do men

and women react in this significant role? Well, different gender of men and women do have

their own role to play. Nevertheless, according to Leadership Effectiveness and Gender, there

is still a substantial absence in top military leadership by female officers. “Leadership is —the

process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals. –Roach & Behling,
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1984”. (Qtd. in Gedney 7). So as long as the person would strive for the target in during

mission in military units, he or she is regard as a leader. However, a leader should have these

kind of characteristics in her or in him; which is self-reliant, independent, assertive, risk taker,

dominant, ambitious, and self-sufficient. “Research has demonstrated that there are far more

similarities than differences in the leadership behaviors of women and men, and that they are

equally effective.” (10). In his book, Women in the Military, Flirting with Disaster, Brian

Mitchell talks about his findings regarding women and their attitudes towards military service.

For instance, he wrote that,

Women are much more likely to list practical, selfish reasons for joining the services,

such as education, travel, and money. Men tend to give other reasons for joining the

military, such as patriotism or love of country, but these lofty sentiments usually hide

other, less currently respectable reasons. Most are too embarrassed to confess that

they derive a profound sense of personal importance from their role as protector. (27).

In other words, it is generally known that a man will be a better leader compared to woman.

“Men are marked out from the moment of birth to rule or be ruled. –Aristotle”. (38) But this

does not conclude that women cannot serve together with men in military units.

Another factor would be sexual assault toward women regarding the togetherness of

both genders in military units. It is undeniable that involvement of women in military units

would lead to fraternization, sexual harassment and sexual assault. “Studies show that sexual

harassment is most common in non-traditional jobs with low numbers of women. In the

military, barriers to assignability have lead to a quota system limiting the number of women

at all levels including senior positions.” (Sagawa and Campbell 5). According to the Israel

News that was dated on 2nd Jul. 2009, “Women ought not to serve in the Israel Defense

Forces, IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronski said at a conference two weeks ago. [...]Ronski also
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discussed the rabbinic prohibition against physical contact between unmarried men and

women, noting that some religious women observed this prohibition while doing their army

service, but others did not.”

Still, women is prevented from involve with men in military units due to some

reasons regarding sexual assault. But there are some reasons why women are promoted in

military units. From the Women in Combat: A Culture Issues? by Lieutenant Colonel H.

Baker II, it stated that:

According to the study, “The fear of unsubstantiated or false sexual harassment

charges was prevalent among men surveyed.” RAND also reported that many men

felt that there was a double standard in their unit due to “different physical standards”

and “a perceived unwillingness of male supervisors to demand as much of women as

they do of men.” On the other hand, RAND found some evidence that women may

actually be promoting a “more pleasant work environment” by reducing the

“inclination of some of the men to become drunk and disorderly in the process of

‘blowing off steam.”

Another article regarding woman in combat is “Women should not serve in military

combat.” by Mrs. P. Schlafly, a national leader of the conservative movement. She said that,

“Women serve our country admirably, both on the home front and in many positions in the

U.S. Armed Forces. But they should not be assigned to military combat or to “combat

support” areas where they have the “inherent risk of capture.””.

In brief, the practising of men and women serving together in military units is still

going on in the armed forces in the world. Of course, men and women are freely to choose

whether they want to be peace-makers or not when involve themselves in military units.

The only reasons is that whether these both gender can communicate well and co-operate in
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military combat by comprising the factors in which decide whether or not, men and women

can serve together in military units. These factors are physical differences, leadership

factors and sexual assault. As long as the person is physically and mentally able to do his or

her job, it would be great if he or she can protect the nation by serve for national defence.

But another thinker would said that “war is no place for women”, either directly or in-

directly involve in the armed forces. It is clear that both men and women can serve in

military units depends on the strength, discipline and thought of that individual. On the

contrary, the fact that men and women serving together in military units is not acceptable

due to factors of physical differences, leadership factors and sexual assault.

(1671 words)