Gender in the Military, Should It Matter?

Gender in the Military, Should It Matter?

Author: Asfand Yar

Hello everybody...

Imagine this… oil is found in the North Pole, Russia takes aggression and starts a full out war with Canada. The Canadian army starts to conscript men into the Canadian armed forces, as it is desperate for manpower on the front line.

The question by this point is should women also be available for conscription in the Canadian armed forces.

Watch this video before you continue reading…
In the video, the female members of the talk show, have a conversation of whether women should be conscripted (same thing as drafted, in Canada we say conscripted) into the army.

Being conscripted into the army, is when one is forced to serve in the armed forces. If a person were to be conscripted into the army, they would have to pass a physical test. The last time Canada had to draft people into the Canadian armed forces was in World War 2. Probably the most famous military draft was during the Vietnam War in America. In which young men were forced into military combat and the one’s who refused either went to jail or escaped to Canada. 

Women being conscripted into the army is not a new thing. It happened in Israel during the 6 days war, women like their male counterparts were forced to fight on the front lines. There is no question their are women out there strong enough to fight, both Canada and America have women in their armed forces who have fought in the front lines. Not all women will meet the requirements, just like all men wouldn’t either, but the women who do meet them, should they be available for conscription? What are your thoughts about this?


Today Canada is more inclusive and equal for women. UsNews ranks Canada 4th in the world for the best country for women to live in. The current PM selected a cabinet of 50/50 men and women. So if Canada fights for so much gender equality, why shouldn’t women also be available for conscription?

Another thing to point out is the perception of women in the media. Women throughout the media, in video games, movies, TV shows, are seen as the weaker sex. Do you see this in media yourself? Has the media created a culture where women are not as tough as men and is that the reason why people can't accept women conscription?

To end it off, here are some things to ask yourself. Why do you think women are not available for conscription in Canada? Do you think media perceives women as weak? If so where do you see this stereotype in the media? And  are these stereotypes the reason why people don’t want women to be available for conscription? Finally, what are your general thoughts about women being conscripted? Should they be available for conscription or not?

I hope my information helps to start a discussion, write your thoughts about the topic below.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 26, 2017 at 7:23 PM

    Hey Asfand, to answer your initial question, I do believe women should be available for conscription in the Canadian military. So here's my take on why women aren't available for conscription in the military. I believe this begins with the over blown stereotype of women being weaker than the male counterpart. With this being said, in a state emergency, it would appear beneficial to draft men into the military over females. Although there are observed differences of muscle groups and body fat ratios in the anatomy of females vs males, I could say that there are quite a lot of women who can out task a male in physical situations. Now, if females were included in conscription, this would lead to a huge outrage and mockery of the Canadian military. Firstly, Canadians who strongly believe in the stereotype of women being weak would cause chaos within the country due to their belief that the women would result to the end of Canada. Secondly, as Canada is already mocked for its petite military, the other major countries would shame our nation due to their opinions towards women as well. Now, do these scenarios really matter when we're in a state of emergency? No, it is just a stigma which means nothing, especially when it has been seen that women can take a role in the military.

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  2. osmanDecember 28, 2017 at 9:01 AM

    Should women also be available for conscription in the Canadian armed forces? I believe, yes, women should be available for conscription unless they have little kids that need there caring. If the female is able to pass all the requirements needed to go to war she should be sent to war. I believe that the reason women aren't available for conscription is that of the widely spread stereotype that women are weak. The media does have a huge impact on building this stereotype, I mean look at all the action movies and shows we're exposed to. The vast majority of the characters which are fighting are the men. A great example would be the expendables almost all the characters are strong muscular men fully capable of destroying nations. Where are the female versions of strong muscular characters that can conquer nations? You would barely see a woman in the middle of a war or beating each other to death in a movie. Why isn't there a female version of Rambo? I believe that is the reason why females are stereotyped as being weak. In my opinion, the solution is that there should be more females taking on the strong brutal characters in movies.

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  3. UnknownDecember 28, 2017 at 1:17 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. UnknownDecember 28, 2017 at 2:05 PM

    Hi Asfand, I agree with Yanish that women are capable of fighting in a war. They have proven that in the six-day war. I think that women should be available for conscription. In my opinion, I believe that the media has played a huge part in portraying women as weaklings. Men are always in hardcore physical commercials while women are just seen feeding the babies or cleaning the house. By showing all these stereotypes, the army believes that recruiting women will pose no threat on the enemies. But the army should dig deeper and see wars like the “six-day war” and see that women are much more capable thank just cleaning and nurturing.

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  5. UnknownDecember 28, 2017 at 10:29 PM

    Hey Asfand, to answer the question on weather or not women should be conscripted, my answer is yes, they should. If Canada were ever in the situation you proposed it would make sense for every able body to and assist this includes women. A common misconception about the military is that you have to be strong. Me myself being an Air Cadet and my brother being apart of the Canadian Military as a reserve i know that to be a soldier you do not need to be strong, but fit. Fitness, can not be measured the same overall it depends on your task given. A fencer's fitness would need to be quick, agile, nimble while a line backer would need to be strong, powerful and heavy.There is no one duty given in the military task are given based on fitness, intellect etc. When comparing men's strength to women's, men would be stronger. When comparing fitness the two genders become more equal. In WW2 women in Russia were given the duty of scout snipers. They were far from direct combat but still were soldiers who were very important to the success of Russia in WW2. Like your linked video and Yanish stated Israel has women in their military and they were successful in the "six-day war'. Finally to sum up women who are able bodied should be conscripted to the military so they can help and be given duties based on their fitness.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownDecember 29, 2017 at 1:59 PM

      I totally agree with you Safwaan, if we were ever in that situation then it would make sense for every single person to help unlike the past. We are at a point where there are many more women in the military which is kind of sticking a finger to older gender stereotypes faced by them, so win win.

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