Women in the Military throughout the World
Dawn Michelle Rosales-Kneubuhl
3 June 2019
Thesis statement
The role of women in matters of critical importance has always remained debatable. The society all around the world seems divided, with some focusing over the enhanced role of women in world affairs whereas some arguing about limiting their roles. Throughout the recorded history of the world, the role of women remained significant. While working on many other fronts as well, they played a significant role in the armed forces as well. Unfortunately, despite such massive contributions, women were not provided with equal opportunities to serve their nations. With the passage of time, some major policy shifts have been observed throughout the world; these policy shifts have brought the negative stereotypes who question the ability of women in the battleground to rest. But still, all around the globe, cases have been reported about women suppression in the armed forces which pave hurdles in their line of duty.
Women in Military- An Analysis
Women have played an important role in preserving the sovereignty of nation-states in history. In the battleground, they were supposed to feed the poor and help the needy. With time, women started stretching their muscles in the battleground. During such times, women roles were limited. They were supposed to perform limited roles and they were kept outside the battleground. With time the role of women started becoming regularized in the armed services. They started playing significant roles. The two major World Wars are proof of this fact. At present, the role of women is important in every sphere of life. In the military realm, their role could be enhanced if they are made part of the combat force,
With the advent of new millennium, many changes are made in order to enhance the participation of women in armed services. Considering their enhanced role in almost every sphere of life, their roles in the military services includes the various sphere of life. Each role of women in the military service strengthens the outlook of the military services worldwide. Every established military in the world has women serving on prominent positions. For example, Pakistan (an economically weak military) promoted female army personnel on the rank of Major General back in 2002. With much advancements coming in the military, there are still some hurdles for women in performing their duties as an active combatant. For example, it has been observed that they are not posted in areas of significant importance, or they are not relied on over. Generally, women are inducted in the engineering corps, the medical corps or the education corps, etc. their absence from the combat field leaves a question mark on the notions of their enhanced roles.
The absence of women from the combat field is becoming controversial. It leaves the space to think that women are still subordinates to some male military officials. This is observable almost in each armed force in the world. The military generals hold different views when it comes to the deployment and recruitments of women in the combat field. Under the current policy setting, the absence of women from combat makes the recruitment and the deployment criteria in the armed forces questionable.
Throughout the history, the role of woman was decided based on established gender norms. Such gender discrimination among genders remained prevalent throughout the recorded history. Even at present, women are not given the opportunities they deserve. This issue has served as a hot topic for many philosophers, writers, and poets. In addition to them, there are many political, military, and religious figures who have written on the same topic. They have all discussed the role of women in a specific manner. Interestingly each one of them has apparently remained failed in providing an all-inclusive account about how women are expected to behave and live in a society. As a result, these incomplete ideologies have been challenged by the emergence of Feminism.
The idea about women inclusion and their enhanced role in armed forces is evolving with the passage of time. Such expansion in the role of women all around the world and the egalitarian policies towards women would definitely benefit the armed forces. Simon argues that although both men and women receive same compensation for a defined task, therefore women should be offered the same privileged role as like the men. In order to benefit from the competence of women, there is a dire need for the expansion in their role profile generally and in military services specifically. This is how women can serve their land and can fulfill the purpose of their education and skills which they acquire by spending the best years of their lives.
Conclusion
Women inclusion in the armed forces is a notable step towards making them a central part in the military services. Their competencies have been observed in areas such as medicine, education, engineering, etc. This is now the high time to make them play their part in the combat field. Women participation and their right to enter the combat, in the armed forces is the foremost step which can lead to their equal rights. With the passage of time, such policy shifts have been noticed which largely brought the negative stereotypes who questions the ability of women in the battleground to rest. Despite all such efforts still, there is a need to expand the policy framework concerning women which can benefit the armed forces all over the world.
Bibliography
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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Required Sources
“How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military,” Norwich University Online, accessed May 29, 2019, https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/how-roles-have-changed-for-women-in-the-military.
The article was published by the Norwich University in November 2018. The article discusses the role of women in the armed forces throughout the world. Different sources are used and the role of women in different eras and different parts of the world is shown. The made by them is that the women have always been serving the military and the armed forces, but their role has consistently been neglected, and not given that much appreciation as required. They have given the references of the times of the American Revolution, American civil war, WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam War, and Post-Vietnam War. Also, the times of the 1990s and the 2000s are discussed regarding the women part in the war. The Publishing source of the article is Norwich University. It is an internationally acknowledged institution established in the year 1819. The University’s Master of Arts in Military History is world recognized for having an unbiased approach.
“Women in the Military,” Taylor & Francis, accessed May 29, 2019, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351299046.
The book puts that the part, rank, and treatment of women is one of the foremost concerns challenging the martial nowadays. This book is giving us a range of viewpoints on the number of apprehensions, the causes of complications, how problems might be addressed in the best possible way, and the future for womenfolk in the military. Historic and theoretic viewpoints are given by Lorry M. Fenner and Jean Bethke Elshtain. The author of the book is the University professor at the School of Public Affairs, as well as the editor of Gender Issues. She has included in the book different views of the scholars on the issue. All the scholars have given their own points of view and their distinct perspectives on this topic. The book is valuable to the researchers of Women's studies as well as those studying gender studies, sociology, history, and military studies.
“Women in the Army: The Percentage of Females in the World’s Biggest Armies,” Army Technology (blog), November 30, 2018, https://www.army-technology.com/uncategorised/women-in-the-army/.
The article provides data about the ratio of females and their roles in the 7 biggest armies around the world. China is the first one and the biggest army according to the number of personnel, had 4.1% of women in PLA. In India, women make up only 3% of the total number of army personnel, and they only work in a non-combat role. The writer also talks about the role and the ratio of women in the countries South Korea, Pakistan, and U.S. Russia. This article is good for the general information about the history, role and the percentage of women in these countries. This article was published by the Title Women in the Army, under the post-Army Technology. The author has provided overall information for the readers that gives an overview of the role of women in the military in the world's big militaries.
Erin Blakemore, “How Women Fought Their Way Into the U.S. Armed Forces,” HISTORY, accessed June 1, 2019, https://www.history.com/news/women-fought-armed-forces-war-service.
This article was published on a website that provides information about historical things and events. T is giving an insight into the struggle that the women in the U.S made to enter the army. 70 years ago it was unimaginable that the women would join the military and the armed forces. Though they served in World War II yet they were forced to join their civil life gain. However, during the year 1948, all this changed when women took vital steps and joined the armed forces as equal members. The author has briefly explained how WWII became a reason for the women to join armed force and opened ways for them to get equal opportunity to get into the military and serve equally as men. The author Blakemore has published this article through the publisher A&E Television Networks, and it was accessed through the authentic website named History.
Rebekah Ratcliffe, “Women in the Military: Around the World,” The Guardian, December 8, 2011, sec. UK news, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/dec/08/women-in-military-around-world.
This article was written by Rebekah Ratcliffe by the world-famous News source The Guardian. The article is about Women and their role across the globe. She has talked about lots of countries and women in their army. Names of these countries are the US, Australia, Israel, Norway, France, etc. According to this article American women are not allowed to join the infantry, but all other areas are open for them. Australian women make 18.5% of the defense force and only 4.5% of senior ranks in all the 3 services. In Israel, combat units have been opened for the women since 1994. Norwegian women make up to 8.5% of the total force, and the same is the ratio of women in the military of France. The author Ratcliffe has published the article under the news magazine and is a news article. The news magazine The Guardian is a world-renowned and authentic news source.
“8 Other Nations That Send Women to Combat,” National Geographic News, January 25, 2013, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130125-women-combat-world-australia-israel-canada-norway/.
The article was published by the author Anna Marine for National Geographic News. The article comprised the researches of the experiences of Australia, Canada and many other countries that have worked closely with the American military in Iraq, and Afghanistan. There have been many movements and talks about the role of women in the combat forces, however, these have always been suppressed. In 1980 Canada opened the combat roles for the women except for the ones that involved women to submarine warfare. Denmark since 1988 made a policy of total inclusion. Similarly, other countries like France Germany and Israel, etc are discussed and their efforts to include women in their combat forces. The source of the article is authentic and is world famous, The national geographic. This article is published by Anna for this news website. The authenticity of the article is unquestionable and indisputable.
