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G.I. Jane??? The explosion of the war in Iraq, and the taking of prisoners of war, has resurfaced that age-old question; do women need to be involved so directly in the chaotic front lines of a combat zone? The media frenzy that was the result of the capture of Private Jessica Lynch has not done justice to the argument for women in combat. The need for women in the military remains undisputed. Their performance is superb and is a credit to the armed forces. The military can be a dangerous and arduous job even in the most innocent of places or positions, but there are no credible benefits for the United States to allow women to put themselves in more danger. Several variables such as physical strength and endurance and unit cohesion make it difficult for not only women, but men also, in the combat zone. The first area to address would be the physical strength and endurance comparisons between males and females. There are many areas in the military that use double standards in the way that physical fitness is graded. To someone who might read evaluation reports on female personnel, it would probably seem like they are keeping up with the males, but in reality most females are barely passing minimum standards. Another term for this is gender-norming. This term describes the standards for females. They attempt to gauge the effort of the females instead of the actual strength or endurance. It is generally accepted that men have 40-50% more upper body muscular strength and 25-30% more aerobic capacity for endurance (Donnelly 18). The gender-norming standards were set up to help minimize the failure in performance, in order to avoid the impression that women could not perform as well as men. Naturally, when most people consider the argument of women not being able to carry there respective weight in a combat environment, they revert to the issue of being able to run the farthest, lift the most weight, or carry the most gear. The point that people tend to forget about is that there might be a time when a woman will fight or even kill in a close quarters battle or during hand-to-hand combat.
Approximate Word count = 1347
Approximate Pages = 5.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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