Karen sends along a link to Jezebel and the Washington Post, both which totally disregard the lives of people involved in special operations and determine that it’s merely a social issue, not having anything to do with the success of our troops in combat. From the Post;
But all is not fair in war. The justifications used to keep women out of combat and special ops units are the same paternalistic, discriminatory excuses used in favor of upholding racial segregation in the military and, more recently, the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding gays and lesbians. In short, they have little to do with individual capability and reveal far more about ingrained ideas and misconceptions regarding psychology, sexuality and physiology.
Yes, once again the intellectually vacant use the racial segregation as an excuse to allow someone to serve. Except that all of us know that Black men are the equal of white men when it comes to their performance in combat. Women, not so much. I’ll never forget the female cadet who told me she couldn’t shine her boots the night before because her “vulva ached”.
Excuses for excluding women from special operations training are more about socialization than actual performance, according to these two authors…two authors who obviously have absolutely no experience with military training as well as no experience in combat.
So their proof that women can train in Special Operations? Hollywood;
Of course, one woman has made it through BUD/S: “G.I. Jane’s” Demi Moore. The 1997 film, directed by Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Thelma & Louise”), chronicles the story of a fictional Navy officer named Jordan O’Neil, who is handpicked by an ambitious Texas senator to undergo SEAL training as a sort of test case. (In true Hollywood fashion, Jordan stumbles a bit along the way but eventually triumphs over both the physical challenges and her male peers’ antagonistic posturing.)
“I’ll admit that Ridley and Demi and I engaged in a bit of wish fulfillment when we made the movie,” says one of the film’s screenwriters, David Twohy. “Did we really think it was 100 percent feasible (and desirable) that women serve as Navy SEALs? Probably not. But we did think the time had come for a dramatic discussion of the issue, and we thought it because history was clearly showing us the way.”
I’ve never seen the movie because I know the type of stereotypical males they portrayed just by instinct. I’m sure it was made in the model of most Lifetime Channel movies with a dainty woman triumphing over evil, burly men.
Yes, I know there are women directly supporting special operations, but there’s a big difference in gathering intelligence and acting on that intelligence. Patrolling a village while surrounded by infantrymen is whole lot different than being an integral member of a team, upon whom nine other people depend on your particular skill to be successful – perhaps over a weeks- or months- long period. And you have to be at 100% regardless of how you feel one day.
“Men do sort of have an absolute advantage over women in, say, upper-body strength, but the extent to which that really makes sense as an issue, I don’t know,” he says. “My sense is that there are some women who would love to challenge the forces and see if they could get through. And I know some who are so fit that they probably could.”
Yeah, mechanically speaking, men’s center of gravity is their chest and shoulders, while women’s center of gravity is in their hips – that’s why women can do more situps and men can do more pushups. It’s also why men are better at humping the stuff they need to survive combat suspended from their shoulders.
Ever notice how they identify female victims on CSI or Bones by looking at their hips and leg bones?
Women are also more susceptible to knee and hip stress injuries because of the mechanics of their bodies – there’s nothing social about their weaknesses and the potential for them to be a burden rather than an asset to their team in some remote mountainous region battling a determined enemy.
I think it’s rather disingenuous of both of the authors to disregard all of the evidence against women performing in Special Operations roles based solely on their gender-loyalty and without a rational discussion of the facts. There are things men suck at, too (ask my wife), it just doesn’t happen to be fighting our country’s enemy on his terms.