Women in Warfare

[Demortis]

I have a question.

what are your opinions about women in warfare? yes women can be as ruthless as anyman, but they still have that emotional responce to situation. no matter how far its been drilled out. i mean they can kill someone but when reminded that, that was someones son or daughter then they become useless because of their emotions. i was just woundering what everyones opinions were on this topic.

[dragon wench]

And men don't have an emotional response? Isn't that what part of military training is about.. learning to follow orders no matter what the soldier might think or feel, because the enemy is the enemy, period.

Further, have you actually read historical accounts such as journals, or fragments thereof, written by soldiers in the field? I have, and I assure you many of those men during both world wars went through sheer Hell, knowing that they were slaughtering human beings little different from themselves.

As far as women being permitted in the military for combat positions, IMO if a woman really wants to have that sort of livliehood than she should have every right to do so.

I feel the same about ordaining women as ministers. It would not appeal to me personally, but again, why shouldn't they pursue such a vocation if they feel a calling for it?

[C Elegans]

What a strange poll...all healthy humans, regardless of gender, age and culture, have about the same amount of emotional responses. We would not survive without it. Can you explain what you mean, and why in your view, there would be any gender differences?

[CM]

In Islam women are allowed to fight. It is preferred they don't. So fine with me. Yeah they can fight.

[Demortis]

im not trying to be sexist here so please before i get stabbed and bled, let me explain.

Men through out history have been the ones in the military. women have always played the role of house wives waiting for there lovers to return from war. now adays since WW2, women have been more involved in warfare. but even more recently women have been given combat duties. some men have been accused of being over protective of women, i mean thats what a man should do correct? but women are given an easier time to advance in the military just because they can use their bodies to their advantage. i can find a couple of examples if you would like. everyone has emotions yes, and as everyone knows women show more then men do. i guess im the only one who thinks like this because of an Honor code.

im not saying that women should be at home keeping the house clean for her spouce. this was a question in my Govt class and i was just wondering what others had to say about this

[C Elegans]

Ok, here is my view:

The traditional western gender roles are sociocultural conditioned, which means when society change, the gender roles will change. Women are not genetically determined to show more emotions than men, neither do they have more emotions. This means that military combat training will not have a different effect on women than men on the emotional level.

A much more valid question IMO would be to look at the real biological differences. Women are needed for reproduction, men is not really. Sperm can be frozen, and the sperm from one man can fertilise many women if needed. Imagine a situation like WWII, when an entire generation of men died in the UK, Germany, Russia...what if all those men would have been women? It would likely have caused serious reproduction problems.

[dragon wench]

Are you talking about the, often very deep, desire men have to protect the women they care about? Is that what you mean by "code of honour?" And are you suggesting that a man's wish to protect the women he loves conflicts with the possible wish of those women to engage in combat?

I have encountered this sentiment on several occasions... It is difficult to reconcile all the conflicts. But, I still believe that women should enter combat if they wish

[Demortis]

i realize it was just a question that i want to ask to see what references and opinions i could gather. knowlage is power. knowing that others belive that women should be able to fight is good to know, but i still think that they shouldnt for the reasons you also said.

please women of GB, no skewering me, bleeding, slashing tendons, or other quite grusome ideas. it was a simple question.

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Demortis

please women of GB, no skewering me, bleeding, slashing tendons, or other quite grusome ideas. it was a simple question.

Damn, there goes my fun for the evening!

Er.. sorry..
More on topic, I don't agree with you, but I do have some sense of where your emotional response comes from

[C Elegans]

I think the question can be evaluted from two levels: individual level in terms of rights and suitability, and at this level (as I stated in my previous post) there is absolutely no reason for women not to enter military. You can view it as equal rights: why should women and not men be denied if they want to fight, and why should men but not women be forced to fight?

Then you can evaluate it from a social level, in terms of broader national or even global interests, and that's where my reproduction issue comes in.

No slashing on tendons

[Demortis]

like i said earlier it was a question that was posed to me and so i posed it to anyone that wished to answer. i still have my reasons for not wanting to have women fight(honor code), but i will take any help that i can get. ya know?

Im shocked DW. you would do that to me?! Im still quite shocked that the thought crossed you mind.

[C Elegans]

What is "honour code"?

[dragon wench]

Originally Posted by Demortis

Im shocked DW. you would do that to me?! Im still quite shocked that the thought crossed you mind.

You obviously don't know me very well

[Demortis]

That i can fix DW.

C.E. an honour code is different for everyone who takes it and upholds it. but basicly it is like Bushido, saying that you must protect the weak, help the needy, etc. but mine was adapted to make the main focus on protecting women. its a long stroy and id rather no wish to go into further details

[Witch King]

Originally Posted by C Elegans

What a strange poll...all healthy humans, regardless of gender, age and culture, have about the same amount of emotional responses. We would not survive without it. Can you explain what you mean, and why in your view, there would be any gender differences?

you apparently haven't read the latest clinical studies results out of Berne labs. it has been scientifically proven that, though sometimes beautiful, women just don't have have what it takes for a vast plethora of vocations, particularly those involving science, math, art or any of the areas requiring higher brain functions.