Advanced Essay #3 // Women in Military

Amira Gouri

Mr. Block

English 3

Introduction:

My goal is for readers to learn more about women in the military. I focused on the pros and cons of having women in the military. I’m proud of my analysis because I picked really good quotes to support my statement.

Essay:

As of 2017, women make up 16 percent of the active-duty military. During World War I from 1914 to 1918, women didn’t have any role in the military, but they were working in other fields such as munitions factories and farming to replace men who had gone to fight in the war. They had a role in providing soldiers with military equipment including weapons. Women’ role increased as in during World War II, about 350,000 women had the ability to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces, both at home and abroad. Most of these women didn’t serve in combat because they were afraid of public opinion. To this day, the military is still mostly men. This made people wonder how women's roles in the military differ from men? And how women in the military are changing over the course of years.

Women representation in the military is small and it is slowly growing. Many female stories tend to be ignored in favor of legacies left by men who have shaped the statement of service to the country. Despite the disagreement, servicewomen are successfully creating new career paths for themselves and the next generation as they enter jobs that were once only for men.

Being a woman also means facing criticism from the men. According to the New York Times magazine titled, “40 Stories From Women About Life in the Military” an article about women's experience in the military. Here is a quote from the article, “In 2006, a male shipmate got into my barracks room and placed a camera in my bathroom and set it to record. I found it only after getting out of the shower. I took the camera to my male chief, whom I had known for only about a month. He assured me that he would get to the bottom of it. By lunchtime, the strange looks from everyone became obvious. Another shipmate told me that everyone in the company office had passed the camera around and saw the video of me naked, getting into and out of the shower.”. We can see many different views from women, some claim they enjoy their job and they are proud of what they are doing, while some claim to be experiencing hardships such as sexual assault, and discrimination due to being a woman. This quote clearly shows the hardship women experience at a job where there is a majority of men. We can clearly see how some men view women as sex objects to the point where a man had to place a camera into the woman's bathroom. Some women chose to change themselves in order to blend in with the men. They eliminate their feminine characteristics, and cut off their hair, just so they could be respected by the men.

Now not all women were treated as inferior or experienced bad moments such as sexually assaulted. In fact, some women actually enjoy their job because they are following their passion, and they like being a minority, so they could be role models for other women who wish to pursue that career.  According to the same source New York Times magazine titled, “40 Stories From Women About Life in the Military”, there are stories about women who showed pride. A quote states, “I am currently Mrs. Texas Galaxy. When I was a National Guard recruiter, I came across many young women who said they couldn’t join because they were too “girlie.” So I started to compete in beauty pageants again to prove that you can still be and feel beautiful and follow any career path you want.”. This quote is a good example of a woman breaking stereotypes since the military is often considered as a job for masculine men. But in this case, the woman decides to also join a beauty pageant to prove that you can still be too “girlie” but also join the military or any other job that is considered not appropriate for “girlie” girls. She’s proving that a woman can do whatever she wants, and the stereotypes followed by society shouldn’t be a barrier to following your dreams.

This issue matters because it’s followed by stereotypes. Gender stereotypes act as a barrier for girls to follow their certain dreams such as being in the military. Gender stereotypes are one of the root causes of discrimination, abuse, and violence in various areas which can lead to violations of a wide array of women and human rights. Female participants argued that they are treated really different compared to men. For instance, women had to work twice as hard as men to prove themselves. Also, most of the time men did not trust women’ opinions and ideas or value the quality of their work, particularly in male-dominated ratings or specialties. Although it seems hard and it may take time, women have to continue to fight for their rights including the equality of treatment as men to create more freedom, jobs, and opportunities for the next generation.

Sources (MLA format):

Katzenberg, Lauren. “40 Stories From Women About Life in the Military.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/magazine/women-military-stories.html.

“How Roles Have Changed for Women in the Military.” Norwich University Online, online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/how-roles-have-changed-for-women-in-the-military.

McKay, Dawn Rosenberg. “Options for Women Who Want to Join the Military.” The Balance Careers, The Balance, 30 Apr. 2019, www.thebalancecareers.com/women-in-the-military-4177666.

“How Gender Stereotyping Affects the Enjoyment of Human Rights.” OHCHR, www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/WrongfulGenderStereotyping.aspx.