Women are assumed to have equal rights as men in the United States, but some people would say otherwise. Women have been proudly serving our country in the military for quite a long time now. Currently over 300,000 women are serving in the military. But women are restricted to where they can serve in the military. They currently cannot serve in the infantry, armor, cannon field artillery, short range defense artillery, navy seals, Submarine Warfare, field artillery, security force guard protecting nuclear material, Combat Control, Special Operations Forces, Rotary Aircraft, and TAC Pararescue.

Ironic isn’t it? We are growing up in a nation, where they teach us that everyone is equal. Whether black, white, gay, straight, man, or women. However, how can we justify our words when our actions say otherwise? Equality is a loaded word. In the dictionary it means: “Equal in all ways. Correspondence in rank, quantity, quality, degree and value.” Some experts say that the world will never be equal because opposing beliefs will allow inequality to continue.

The first reason why women aren’t allowed to serve in certain areas of the military is because they believe that women are not as fully capable as men are physically. It is a proven fact that many women are more physically capable of being in combat then some of them men we send there. Just like not all men are capable, neither are all women. But since some women can do the job efficiently and properly, we shouldn’t ban all women from being able to.

Another claim I have heard about this issue, Is “Why try to fix what isn’t broken”. Many people believe since this is how the military has always behaved in history why try to change it. We obviously live in a country afraid of change. So when I hear the statement, why try to fix what isn’t broken, I get a little upset. Just because something isn’t broken, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. And that is what needs to be done here. And for the people who believe we should continue this tradition because it is have our country has always done it, just because we have always done it doesn’t make it rights. For example, until the 1920’s, our country has been a segregated country. But that doesn’t mean that it was right.

Third, self proclaimed experts claimed that most women do not want to serve in the military. I have personally taken this to be the most offensive and ignorant claim. Just because the majority doesn’t want to, does not mean that some women don’t want to. It continues to blow my mind how this claim is even used argumentatively. That is like forbidding everyone to join the military just because the majority of people don’t want too.

In the novel Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson stumbles into a poverty ridden village when on his journey to climb K2. He quickly realizes that he needs to help the village by building a school. Not only does he help the village overall, But I sense that it had even a larger impact on the women and girls of the village. Growing up in the Middle East and being oppressed, they are taught that they are second best in society, and men are first. This changed when Greg came in and built a school not only for the boys but for the girls to get a quality education as well. He helped empower the women, making them realize their own self worth and their own potential which is something all countries need in all aspects of life, even in the military.

The women’s rights movement has been fighting a long battle to allow women equal rights in the military. To no avail, they continue their battle. For women to truly be considered equal, we need to be considered equal in all aspects of life, not just a few. As women, We need to unite and stand for that right. We need to use our voices because we can change this.

Works Cited:
1)
Military Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. http://www.militarywoman.org/forums/
2)
Wilson, Barb A. Women in combat.. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/combat.html
3)
Dictionary.com
4)
Brant, Martha. The case against women in combat. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2007/10/23/the-case-against-women-in-combat.html