Even though women are trying to break through the barrier into the once male distinguished lines, women still do not possess the skills for hand-to-hand combat positions (Messmer 1). Women just do not possess the physical strength that they would be subjected to from front-line combat situations.
Being in the military is a very demanding job. A person in the military must possess strength, endurance, and a sound mind. Most women do not possess these qualifications at a high percentage. According to Kirkwood, author of "Female pilots can fly but can't soar like men-, he states:.
"for the strongest woman, on average, is only as strong as the weakest man-. .
There are millions of male Iraqis waiting to go to war with us and only one of them is weaker than our best woman. I understand why men in the U.S. army are worried about the cohesion of their ranks, if women are allowed into the combat zones. A study was performed by the Royal British Army to show just how much differences there are between men and women in wartime conditions. In one exercise, women failed almost every time carrying 90 pounds of shells over a specified area, while men only failed a few times (Dougherty 4). Let's change it around a little bit then, if the average women cannot carry 90 pounds, 90 percent of the time; I don't believe it's much chance of her carrying her wounded comrades out of danger.
Another main issue in not allowing women to the front-lines is that it puts women in the position of becoming POW's (prisoners of war). There is much a greater risk of a women being sexually molested or even raped with allowing women to the front-lines. During the Gulf war, two female American soldiers were actually taken prisoners and one of them was sexually assaulted by the Iraqis (Willens 2). This shows exactly what can and will happen when we let women go into front-line combat zones. I believe this type of military horror towards women being sexually tortured can be avoided and should.
