Anonymous
05-06-1999, 05:16 AM
There are 2 things today that seem to be keeping women from ground combat positions. Physical fitness and attitudes.
The difference between USA and Sweden is that in Sweden men and women have the same demands on physical capability in ALL positions, and as far as I know they are below the male standard in USA. That excludes many women (and many men too) from both combat and non-combat positions, but many women have what it takes. Both men and women have to exercise regularly to keep fit. There are few people (men and women) that can run 2 miles below 14 min if the haven't exercised at all for a couple of years. But the AVERAGE man might need less exercise than the average woman to do it.
BUT THE PHYSICAL CAPACITY ISN'T THE PROBLEM!! The problem is attitudes, if no one wants women to be succesful in combat positions, few will be applying and few will suceed. It can be very hard trying to do something that noone wants you to do. A women have to prove she is good enough, but if you happens to be male you don't have to proove you are good enough, you just have to avoid making big mistakes. The Armed Forces are missing many many talents because of attitudes, and that has to change because the military are loosing smart people.
In Sweden all positions are open and women have been trained succesfull in every area (including special forces), but still few women applies for military service. Why?? Because of attitudes. The SwedishArmedForces are now working hard to change attitudes among women, to make it "normal" for a young woman to do military service, as normal as it is for the young men in Sweden. If it is considered normal by the public opinion, women can apply to the military without beeing seen as "loose" or something else that is considered negative for a young woman to be.
Once it was very "un-female" to be an athlet, and women athlets were looked upon with suspicion, because they were different, they were not "normal". Today we cheerish good female athlets. My hope is that some day the we will have the same attitude change regarding women in the military (including ground combat positions). What is normal is not genetically programmed, normal is what the majority of the people in a society consider it to be.
milwoman_sweden@hotmail.com
The difference between USA and Sweden is that in Sweden men and women have the same demands on physical capability in ALL positions, and as far as I know they are below the male standard in USA. That excludes many women (and many men too) from both combat and non-combat positions, but many women have what it takes. Both men and women have to exercise regularly to keep fit. There are few people (men and women) that can run 2 miles below 14 min if the haven't exercised at all for a couple of years. But the AVERAGE man might need less exercise than the average woman to do it.
BUT THE PHYSICAL CAPACITY ISN'T THE PROBLEM!! The problem is attitudes, if no one wants women to be succesful in combat positions, few will be applying and few will suceed. It can be very hard trying to do something that noone wants you to do. A women have to prove she is good enough, but if you happens to be male you don't have to proove you are good enough, you just have to avoid making big mistakes. The Armed Forces are missing many many talents because of attitudes, and that has to change because the military are loosing smart people.
In Sweden all positions are open and women have been trained succesfull in every area (including special forces), but still few women applies for military service. Why?? Because of attitudes. The SwedishArmedForces are now working hard to change attitudes among women, to make it "normal" for a young woman to do military service, as normal as it is for the young men in Sweden. If it is considered normal by the public opinion, women can apply to the military without beeing seen as "loose" or something else that is considered negative for a young woman to be.
Once it was very "un-female" to be an athlet, and women athlets were looked upon with suspicion, because they were different, they were not "normal". Today we cheerish good female athlets. My hope is that some day the we will have the same attitude change regarding women in the military (including ground combat positions). What is normal is not genetically programmed, normal is what the majority of the people in a society consider it to be.
milwoman_sweden@hotmail.com