Women and the Military: Changing Perceptions

Women and the Military: Changing Perceptions

One way to determine the overall cultural feeling towards a topic is to review how the media has covered it through a period of time. The presence of women in the military has been a topic that raised strong feelings in many Americans. The thought of women in combat raises even more passionate discussions, with the thought of mothers and daughters being killed or captured by enemy soldiers being difficult to contemplate. The change in tone of the media regarding women in the military has changed from the 1970s when women were first admitted to service academies to present times with women actively on the front lines in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The articles from the mid 1970s when women were first allowed entry to the service academies focus on skepticism of women's abilities to perform, however, showed a grudging willingness to see what they could do. Cadets from each of the service academies were interviewed with some interesting differences in their responses. A West Point cadet stated, "Personally, I don't believe women should be here, but I will do all I can professionally to make it work" ("What Top Men" 31). In Sheils and Boyd's article, they illustrate the concern prior to their admission at West Point with the question "Can the upper torso, or bosom, for example, take the "pummeling" of the academy's strenuous

[sic] athletic program" (60)? The authors continue with the response from West Point officials being a clear 'no'. Similarly, the level of concern at the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy is also discussed, with Annapolis officers "grumpily protested that law and custom forbade the presence of women on combat-ready ships" and Air Force cadets worrying "that women will lower the proud academic and disciplined by [sic] physical standards of their school" (60). Interestingly, the article goes on to commend the Air Force Academy for making every effort to make the incoming female cadets as ready for success as possible. The Air Force Academy reached out to all the nation's high schools in order to target the best and brightest of the girls. They also brought a group of 15 female Air Force lieutenants to the Academy to serve as the women cadet's surrogate upper-classmen, who would be responsible for introducing them to the academy's regimentation, just as male upper-classmen do for male cadets. The approach by the Air Force Academy was in sharp contrast to West Point, who sent discouraging brochures to any female who had expressed interest in attending, stating, "Much of the time you will be...hot, sweaty, dirty, and tired" (60).

After just one year, the tone of the news coverage has already started to swing toward a positive (if somewhat surprised) tone. The percentage of women who successfully completed their first year was higher than the men at West Point and Colorado Springs, and only slightly lower at Annapolis (Keerdoja 12). The women have performed academically in line with the men; however, the physical standards for women are less stringent. This raises concerns among some of the male cadets, who state, "I couldn't go into combat with a woman. They can't keep up, and they are too willing to quit" ("So Far, So Good" 26). These perceived shortcomings were offset by physical strengths, with the Naval Academy women winning State championships in basketball, volleyball, sailing and fencing ("So Far, So Good" 26). While there continued to be some resentment of the female cadets, the overall feeling was one of grudging acceptance of their ability to be successful at the service academies.

In comparison to the articles from the 1970s, I found it difficult to even find a significant number of articles specifically about women in the military for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Instead, the articles that I uncovered were mostly referred jointly to both men and women in the military and their service in Iraq. Several short articles were written about specific African American women, illustrating their high degrees of success in the military, two articles about African American female combat pilots serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom ("Capt. Christina" 8; Walker 6), and a third article about the first black female POW ("Black Caucus" 4). The most interesting article focused on the media's tendency to overstate women's accomplishments in combat in order to show that women are every bit as capable of men in combat (O'Beirne 9). The author focuses on the physical and emotional differences between men and women, with clear examples of how women are typically unable to perform the same level of physical tasks that men are. One example which was given was the job of stretcher carrier in the Navy, a role that previously had been defined as a two-man job, today is defined as a four-person task to accommodate women (O'Beirne 9). O'Beirne also goes on to discuss the impact to male soldiers who feel protective toward female soldiers and how it can cause detrimental actions during combat (9). Finally, O'Beirne discusses how overplaying women's exploits discounts the masculine traits that the history of warfare shows to be vital to military success. She goes on to show how the fundamental nature of women causes them to avoid risk and embrace safety, whereas men will take risks and do what is necessary in order to "be a man" (9). This article would appear to support the concerns that women are not necessarily effective in all areas of combat, due to their lesser physical strength, psychological impact on men, and inherent need to be safe. Despite this single article, most articles did focus on the bravery and competence of women in combat, especially in the more technologically focused areas of flight combat.

In my opinion, the overall attitude towards women in the military has changed to one of acceptance, although