Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Stephen Wolfe, on “Women in the Military” (1)

Stephen Wolfe, who is a West Point grad and PhD (Political Philosophy) candidate, posted this on Facebook (reprinted here with permission):

1. They reduce unit cohesion.
2. They are usually the weakest link.
3. They are injury-prone.
4. They are often overweight.
5. They change unit dynamics.
6. They reduce training opportunities.
7. They require special accommodation in field exercises.
8. Male soldiers tend to have less respect for them.
9. They usually are less proficient in shooting and other warrior tasks.
10. They bring the need for institutionalized training on sexual harassment and sexual assault.
11. They create awkwardness and uncertainty in social relations.
12. The dynamics often bring questions of fairness.
13. Those that have kids are often constrained by picking up and dropping off kids at daycare.
14. They become "unavailable" due to pregnancy.

5 comments:

  1. 15. They take up more shore or non-combat billets increasing the deployment time for men
    16. They create spousal stress for men. Military wives greatly resent the fact that these women are in close proximity to there husbands for extended periods of time, take shore/non combat billets, etc.
    17. They are given preferential treatment due to being a protected class. e.g. if a woman makes an accusation you are guilty until you prove your innocence in the military.

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  2. I highly recommend Brian Mitchell's book _Women in the Military, Flirting With Disaster_. It shows just how bad things have been for a _long_ time.

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    1. Heh, used copies can be ordered thru Amazon.com for as low as 37 cents (plus shipping). I ordered one of those!

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    2. For a minute you had me worried that it might be out of print. Glad it isn't. It has a big section on the Tailhook scandal, and in some ways it will seem out of date. (It is already an updating of his earlier book, Weak Link.) But to my mind it is timely because it shows how far back the problem goes.

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    3. It's good to know history :-)

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