Selective Service and Women

[AzRaeL StoRmBlaDe]

some very good points. I agree it is completely unfair, but such is life.

[Maelakin]

Men and Women are, and should be, equal when it comes to their civil rights. In truth, it shouldn’t go any farther than that. Men and Women are NOT equal when it comes down to physical and psychological attributes. This point could be argued extensively, but when all is said and done the fact still remains that there are specific chemical differences in the composition of people between the sexes.

Often you will hear people state examples of a woman who exceeded expectations and was able to perform a physical task above and beyond what is considered normal. However, these people fail to realize that while this particular person was able to do such, that one person is a singular exception in a much larger sample. At the same time, taking an extreme from one sample (women) and comparing it to the average of another sample (men) does not denote equality. It is a fact that the overall potential for strength in a man is higher than that of women.

The above statement can also be applied to the psychological component of the human. Women are, on average, on a level of emotion evolution that men are not. This does come with a draw back when presented as an argument in the current discussion. One reason men are better suited for the emotion rigors of war is simply due to them having a higher level of emotional detachment.

One point off topic concerning the above statement is Society has in many areas (primarily America) started to “feminize” men to a point where the emotion evolution of men in becoming equal to that of the women. As such, there will soon be a time where this portion of reasoning becomes null and void. In my opinion, it creates an imbalance and is not healthy for Society as a whole.

Returning to the topic, because of the reasons stated I believe that in no way should women be entered into the draft process. In times of war, time becomes a luxury, and by drafting only men you use a sample that has an average equal to the result you are looking at obtaining. If women were instituted into the draft, a situation would occur where the target samples average is now deficient when compared to the desired result.

As for women enlisting in the military, the same way of thinking should be used, as it should be in every facet of life. If a person meets the standards necessary to succeed in any position then they should be allowed the opportunity to do so. However, the standards should be the same for every sex and race and those who perform the highest should be given the opportunity. Quotas based upon how many of each sex or races are within any given position is just another method of watering down Society. By doing so, we set ourselves up to fail in the long run.

[IAmThumper]

I don't think my government is ever going to draft me but if they did draft me but not women I'd be annoyed. Don't get me wrong if the need was there and I believed in the cause I would fight.
This is a draft we are talking about. They're not looking for the best of the best, they're looking for numbers and they're expecting loses.
Yeah sure men and women are different but we're talking about modern warfare here. Sure if it came down to a knife fight I would bet on the man but it's not like we're fighting with swords anymore. (Not to mention service in the navy and air force)
On the other side however I do see one simple fact. It takes only 1 man (or just his sperm) to get 100 women pregnant so if repopulation is of vital importance then I think I'd chose to send men in rather than women.
But if we're not talking about a world war senario then I think anyone who isn't sick who can hold a gun should be considered for the draft.

[RevRuby]

perhaps i am biased, being a woman and all....but..then again...anyway

i do not support drafting women. i do not support drafting men.

[ 09-18-2003, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: RevRuby ]

[Firestormalpha]

Thank God we don't have an active draft. We guys are forced to sign up for something that will not likely ever come into effect. I've discussed this with many of my friends some of which were formerly in the service themselves. They all believe that another draft is very unlikely.

[Azimaith]

Yes another draft is very unlikely.

As for emotional detachment in men and women I don't think we have tons of proof over that. What about homosexuals then? Men who had sex changes to women I believe are still required to sign up for selective service. Emotional detachment varies from person to person.

Second, I know time is of the essence when in a draft but its always important. As I said before, it seems most people agree that women are not as suited towards warfare as men are, if thats so why do we even let them into the military, why not focus completely on superior comabatant males and leave the women out of it all together? If women are so emotionally different and unsuited to war why let them have anything to do with it? A person who hesitates in combat will get others killed.
If women are unable to match the strength of men in warfare, why do we even bother allowing them into combat posistions. In my opinion, women enjoy a growing amount of rights, I believe they deserve the exact same treatment as men do in civil terms, HOWEVER, if you do not, or refuse to aid your country at an unexpectated time during a draft, you don't deserve the rights protected thereof.

More than half of a random telephone survey agreed that women should be forced to sign up for selective service, i'm sure that in wartime ANY warmbodies will be useful to have. If a woman can't be a front line fighter let her take other jobs, all sorts of things need filling during a draft.

I keep reading: "Since men and women are physically different and men have the ability to become stronger, only they should be drafted." By the same idea I would say, women being inferior in strength and unsuited for combat should not be allowed to join the military. I doubt you can apply genetic propensity towards muscle mass selectively. Anyhow, women can gain greater endurance than men, i'm sure that that would be useful as well.

RevRuby, I have yet to meet one person who was joyful at the though of being drafted, sometimes its necessary and I would most definately not dodge the draft if my country needed me, I don't see why women should be exempt.

In my opinion, women were not drafted because back when the draft was updated, I believe by Truman, a ton of women were not proffessionals, they were housewives, this means if a husbands off at war, shes staying home and taking care of everything there. Its was simply a matter of social roles, now we have all sorts of arrangements and even stay at home dads, the need for the mother to stay with the children has diminshed greatly.

Another note on emotional detachment, if women have such a hard time with emotional detachment IE thought unbiased by emotion, why do we allow them on jury duty, certainly such a sex that was so emotionally infirm and unable to think with strict logic should not be trusted to be impartial in the court of law with very emotional issues. In short, most people would much rather go to jury duty than to risk being killed in a war, this is just as illogical if the idea of emotional detachment were followed and completely unfair to the justice system to have to "put up" with such a sex.

[andora20]

I may be flamed for this but anyway, here goes
Drafting of citizens into the military should be banned under the convention of human rights. Noone should be forced into killing another human being. Its just not right

[Zuvio]

Originally posted by andora20: I may be flamed for this but anyway, here goes Drafting of citizens into the military should be banned under the convention of human rights. Noone should be forced into killing another human being. Its just not right

Undeniably true, although in reality things aren't as easy put as that.

[Beoulve]

About the thread over-all, why do you think the ERA was shot down? While saying that women are equal to men in every way sounds good on paper, what it comes down to is that they aren't. Another thing is, the United States citizenry is never going to accept sending off our women to die in battle.

And Andora, I partially agree with you. People should never have to kill another. But the thing is, the way humanity regards everything, that will never happen. And, if people aren't drafted in times of a serious war (WWII, anyone?), things will be worse for all. Sad, isn't it?

[harleyquinn]

Originally posted by RevRuby: perhaps i am biased, being a woman and all....but..then again...anyway i do not support drafting women. i do not support drafting men.

My feelings exactly. I don't think anyone should be drafted.

As for the law, keep in mind it was written in a different time, and just hasn't been updated as the times and attitudes towards men/women roles in society have changed.