I'm curious......why shouldn't women be drafted too?

[StPaulieGirl]

Women should be drafted if men are drafted.  However the United States abolished the draft many years ago.  Perhaps you are referring to selective service?  That's when men register when they turn 18.  Personally I think that's BS.  

Brent, speaking of vaginas, did you see the post on general issues where I posted that film clip of Jessica Lynch and Lori Piestewa?  We're going into places inhabited by savages.  I personally think that when it comes to shooting, a female is just as good as a male.  Let me tell you something.  We all went at it several months ago over on FR.  Several men laid it out about why women shouldn't be in combat.  1.  In a retreat situation, a female isn't going to be able to carry a wounded man to safety.  Most women aren't as physically strong as men.  2.  The Israeli Army used to draft women until they realized that it was counterproductive...the male soldiers would instinctively protect their female comrades.  They shifted the females out of battlefield duty.  

3.  Captured female soldiers are a total moral buster. Sorry Brent, that's just the way it is.  Btw, until my 9 yr old girl decides to be a ballerina or an astronaut, she wants to join the Army and kick ass :-)  It's cool with me.  

If you draft women, put them in positions that men normally do stateside.  Women are too much of a distraction in the battlefield.  Even though we can shoot just as good as you )(

Any Vets want to chime in?

[Kitty C.]

I remember back WAY when I graduated from HS when I was told that if all 18 MALES didn't sign up for the draft, they could be jailed and denyed access to college.  I couldn't believe it!

Then in 1989, along comes my son.  His father was astounded when I told him that if we had a girl, I would force her to sign up for the draft when she was 18 or I would withdraw ANY support (including college) from her.  So I asked him why he could allow a son of his but not a daughter, and he couldn't answer me.

I know all the crap about distractions and the usual BS about PMS, but when you have a military with a 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' attitude about gays in the military, tell me what's the difference?  I have no problem with gays in the military, but common sense tells you that if women would be a 'distraction', then gay males would too, right?  Same thing in my book.

JMO, but there is NO reason why women shouldn't be required to sign up.  And if I was 18 (again!), I would in a heartbeat.

[tryn2begooddad]

Being a former submarine sailor in our Navy one of the very few places women are never allowed I can offer my opinion. Yes I think the whole selective service thing is a crock of BS..An 18 year old man doesn't register he loses the ability to get student loans and what not for things like college or starting a business..An 18 year old woman doesn't have that prohibition.  Talk about sexism. I know some men that can't carry their comrades either so in a general sense it is true that women usually (not always) physically aren't stronger than men. But I know in the Navy they are also held to different standards forthe physical test. I do not see how a woman POW is more demoralizing that a male POW. Try telling John McCain or James Stockdale that a woman POW is different from them I think they would disagree..I look at it this way for those women that WANT to be in combat they know the risks when they VOLUNTEER (yes our services are all volunteer) so if they choose to be a combat soldier (since as ADULTS we make our own choices) then they accept the risks that come with it. And if the majority of women don't want the ability to go into harms way then maybe those that are at the forefront of the feminist movement need to rethink their agenda..just my two cents...hope you all had a happy new year

[StPaulieGirl]

Thanks for the input.  A submarine would be the last place that you'd put men and women together, imo.

Because the price of freedom isn't cheap, I think that all 18 yr old Americans should serve in some capacity.  It might even cut down on those damn hippies.

A woman POW is more demoralizing because of instinct.  Of course we weep and rage when we see our guys being held captive, ie: VietNam, but this is a whole new ball game.  I don't know if it still works, but I posted a link to the video of the female captives on the general board.  Lori Piestewa died shortly after that video was taped.  The aggressors would have just shot them if they were men.  See what I mean?  there are nasty rumors of rape, etc.  I have 2 girls who are 21 and 24...they could be my girls.  They could be any of our girls.  What they do to men is not what they do to women.

My 9 yr old girl, at the moment, wants to join the Army.  

[Rakkasan]

[em][font color=red]...common sense tells you that if women would be a 'distraction', then gay males would too, right?[/font][/em]

WRONG..... I can assure you I would not be distracted by them (unless they decide to wear pink BDU's, then I would not be so much distracted as I would be working hard to stay away from such an obvious targeting point.

here are some links from Fred Reed on women in the military that you may find enlightening

http://www.fredoneverything.net/WomenInCombat.shtml


http://www.fredoneverything.net/MilWomenII.shtml


http://www.fredoneverything.net/MoreWomenLetters.shtml

[tryn2begooddad]

We and the British are behind the curve in putting men and women together in submarines. Sweden has been doing it for years. It is a cultural awareness problem in this country but that is a whole side story to itself.  I saw the video link you posted. I have two daughters myself but if they desired to be in combat they would have to know and accept the risk to themselves. But to say that a woman POW is more demoralizing than a male one I think is crud..a POW is a POW. Should women then be forced back into the kitchen to stay barefoot and pregnant since this will make the men the protector and provider again?  Don't get me wrong yes it is a travesty if these women were raped but they also knew the risk associated when they joined the Army that being a soldier brings with it.  But to say women shouldnt be in combat because they are women is an argument that cant be made if women want to be treated as equal. And yes the torture they would receive is different in application than that which a man would be subjected to but it is still torture.

[MKx2]

Firstly, let me say that I am NOT trying to be argumentative about this issue, nor am I a promoter of the feminzi/NOW groups, NOR do I believe that women should be bare tootsied and with child all the time --

I am simply having issues inside my own head about this entire gender equality thing.

I sit here and read all the opinions like letting the women stay stateside and do all the jobs and put the men in the heat of the battles; put the women in battle and if they get captured and tortured "they knew what could happen"; and I wonder why the hell it has come to all of this?

I grew up in that transition era with family values that told me going to college was merely to get my "M.R.S." degree, while society was telling me that I should fight to have all the same rights as a man.  Perhaps this is in part why I have such an unsettled feeling over all of it.

It just would seem to me that we all, both men and women, should be more accepting of the differences and limitations of both sexes; that we should applaud these differences and focus on being the very best we can be, with those physical differences, the different thought patterns and natural abilities ...

Please don't flame me, as this truly is a something I have SUCH a hard time understanding ... can ANYone help me to understand why it all has to be so "equal"??  

Or am I asking for a lifetime of free therapy to do that ... LOL

[StPaulieGirl]

Until I was set straight by several men, I thought the same way, except for submarines and ships.  That will never work, unless you have only ugly women and gay men on board.

I used the Israeli Army as an example.  I was quickly provided links to show that the Israelis abandoned the practice after it was noted that the male soldiers were demoralized by seeing their female counterparts killed and wounded.  Remember Lynch, Johnson, and Piestewa were part of a support unit, they were not combat troops.

No, I don't think that women should be chained to the stove (with enough slack to reach the washer and dryer), barefoot and pregnant.  We just have to realize that no matter how badly certain people wish that men and women were exactly equal, wishing won't make it so.  I was presented with a lot of arguments against women in combat areas by men who are/were military.  There are tons of jobs for women in the military, and I think they should be encouraged to serve, but not serve as a distraction.

[StPaulieGirl]

It just would seem to me that we all, both men and women, should be more accepting of the differences and limitations of both sexes; that we should applaud these differences and focus on being the very best we can be, with those physical differences, the different thought patterns and natural abilities ...

[p]We can thank the feminists for turning everything upside down.  It's not so much that everything has to be so "equal", but more like destroying the natural order.  We are equal under the eyes of God and the law, meaning that God treats us the same, we are liable for the same penalties for breaking the law.  Other than that, we aren't equal.

[p]Women were designed to bear children.  Our physiology and emotional wiring is different from men.  Men are hunters, we are gatherers. No matter how the feminists, etc, try and wreak havoc with the natural order, it's still there.  Of course this creates huge problems with our identity.  Men and women are designed to fit together, emotionally and physically.  We weren't meant to compete or be the same.  It just doesn't work, and this has turned Western Civilization into a huge mess.

[p]Jmo...

[tryn2begooddad]

Hey I am all for realizing each of our respective sexes has inherit differences. I also agree that we should as humans strive to do and see the best not only in ourselves but in others.  I think a majority (and I might get flamed for this) of people realize that men and women are different..it is the few that stir the pot so to speak and bring the gender equality thing to the forefront.. Maybe we should blame the PC police for doing this..even the courts that proclaim equality when it comes to say CS they definately do not treat NCP moms the same as NCP dads (in general not going into a specific case or anything) so I guess once again we should blame the system just like we should blame the media for letting us buy into the ideal that to look good you have to be buff and a hardbody or thin and sticklike..just my two cents..and if you flame please be gentle