Essay one—Men vs. Women Drafting

Turning eighteen constituted a milestone of great importance. It was the first wave of independence and freedom that set me free from childhood. Now I was considered an adult; I could buy cigarettes; I could vote; I could purches pornography; I could also be enlisted in selective services. On that day, feeling free, I received my registration card. That’s when it hit me that no matter how I’d personally felt about it, it was law that I had to sign a card saying that I could be drafted in a time of war. Not only should women be barred from selective service, but men too should not have to mandatorally sign their lives away to wars that they don’t stand for or believe in. Selective Services ought to be volentary(sp?) to men and women who choose to sign themselves over to the mercy of the United States Military.

Women should be allowed to participate in military situation if they choose to. Pertaining to selective service, Cathy Young states that, “In 1981, . . . the supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the law on the grounds that the purpose of the draft was to send soldiers into combat, from which women were barred.” Women aren’t concidered for the draft, at least for combat situations. Airforce Maj. Gen. Jeanne Holm thought that most women are incompitent for physical combat because it requires levels of physical prowess most women don’t have. But, according to Young far more women are in military ranks, doing far wider varieties of jobs-including some combat-related ones. She states that, “In the 1990 Gulf War, women were closer to the front lines then ever befor and wore among the casualties of war. Today, women can pilot combat aircrafts, serve on combat ships, and command battalions in combat areas.” Why can’t women be burdend (sp?) by selective service as well?

Selective service registration shouldn’t be mandatory for men that would be no more competent than women on the battlefield. I personally could carry all the gear and go through all the training required for military combat, but I would mentally and morally have a tough time proforming well. Just because I am a man, it is okay to put me at the front line to die, all because I can carry th gear; It is udderly redicoulos (sp?). Men also have no choice. If men refuse to register for selective service, they can be prosecuted and forgoe a chance for student loans. Warren Farrell argues that “Male-only draft registration is a symbol of the longstanding attitude that men’s lives are more disposable and that women must be protected from harm,” but Stephanie Gutman warns that, “trying to override the natural law that makes men want to protect women and makes societies reluctant to send women to die on the battlefield.” The issue of men and women;s rights as soldiers seems to ride solely on moral grounds.

If men have to sign up for selective services, then women too should need to be conciderd. I wouldn’t volenteer myself to the military, but I have no choice. If we were to have a war, I would probably still be drafted. Women don’t have to deal with this problem. Young states that the courts should reject male-only draft registration as incompatible with equal citizenship; it is the only instance in which federal law explicitly treats men and women differently. Feminism wanted the rights of men but according to Warren Farrell, “feminism seems to give women options without obligations.” If they want equal treatment, than women should have to sign selective service registration.

I don’t feel as though anyone should be forced to do anything. Neither men or women should have to do anything against their will. If people want to sign up, they should have the right. But if men will contiue to be forced into somenthing, then so should women.