Should women be required to register for the military draft? This is a controversial question that has caught the attention of many people in the United States. If based on equality, the answer to this question would be yes, women should be required to register for the draft. If based on bias, the answer to this question would be no, women are too weak and going to war is a man’s job. People who usually call themselves feminists often commit the mistake of answering this question based on ethics that are not focused on equality at all, but on personal interest instead.
This topic is very significant yet controversial due to the social gender roles that females and males get separated into and defined by in a day to day basis. Females often get excused from male roles and responsibilities and vice versa because of the belief that society has of females being the weaker gender (Fromer, 2017). Women are viewed as physically weaker and weaker-minded because they are taught and trained to fill that role from a young age. Further into the research it will come into play that females are not weaker than males and science supports this statement with viable proof.
This research will be based on The United States’ unconstitutional military draft. The United States Selective Service System has a contingency plan that states that all males who are civilians in the United States and who are between the ages of 18 years old and 25 years old have a requirement by the law to register for the United States military draft in case of the need to turn to a draft when our nation gets into combat and need more people to fight. Men who meet these requirements must register and, even if they are studying or have a job when the military draft gets put to use, they must drop everything and go fight for our country. Failure to register for the draft if these requirements are met will lead to punishment by jail-time or even financial pay-off.
The United States Government supports the popular social beliefs and standards even if the drafting of only one gender could be considered unconstitutional because of the bias and gender discrimination behind it. In 1981, the Rostker v. Goldberg court case was finalized in the Supreme Court of the United States. This was the court case that legalized the male-only draft with Robert L. Goldberg’s claim expressing that the exemption of women from the registration for the military draft would not violate the constitution. But wouldn’t the discrimination, the separation of genders, in a legal manner be violating to the United States Constitution? Although popular belief of a male-only draft being constitutional and accepted by our government and society, the United States military draft exploits gender discrimination resuming in bias being enforced by the United States Government.
Many people have stood up against the legalization of the male-only draft, including women who have realized the discrimination and bias behind it all. Popular belief, based on the survey I conducted for my empirical research narrative, says that women should be drafted because that is a fair outcome to the issue of gender discrimination and a step further towards the equality of both genders. My survey provided me with responses that showed that most women would not mind being required to register for the military draft. In fact, more women were alright with the idea of being required to register for the military draft than men were. My take on this is that women are tired of being shaped into a weaker mindset, we know we are capable of many things and we don’t mind having the same responsibilities as men.
The legalization of a general draft, or even making the draft not required at all for any gender, will move our nation towards an equal future that does not rely on bias and old-school views of our society. The legal act that we live by since 1981 in the United States will do nothing but separate the genders into their different roles, which will eventually weaken the nation and the minds of its people. The Rostker v. Goldberg case goes against our 14th amendment of the constitution, which states no sort of discrimination of different groups of people and no sort of different treatment for certain groups will be tolerated or accepter by the United States Government. I do not stand with this accepted unconstitutionality of an act, I stand with the equal responsibility and fair treatment for the genders.
Many might disagree with me due to the belief that women are weaker than men are. This is what society has shaped us into thinking for years since our birth, masculinity overpowering any other sort of empowerment for both genders as equals. Others might also believe that women are strong enough but were not born to fight like men are, women can just enjoy the view while the men do the work. Then come in the ones who claim that women deserve equal rights but not equal responsibility because we are female. And lastly, some might also think that women will not be able to handle the emotional stress that going to war puts a person through. All of these can be considered valid reasons for women not to be required to register for the draft, but if we think about it they can also be reasons that invalidate women who join the military willingly.
In response to those who believe that women are the weaker gender, from where I stand I can prove that women are not weaker than men are, if we were weaker then no woman would be allowed to join the military at all. The only difference between a man and a woman when it comes down to the military drafting of males is that women have a choice, and men have a duty. The difference isn’t the amount or level of strength each of the genders have, it is the right to a choice that divides both genders into two different categories. For those claiming that women are strong, but they are not born to fight, I believe that everyone is born to fight, or no one is born to fight at all, not that certain groups of people were genetically made or modified to fight for a living. If females were not born to fight then what is the reason for our presence in the world, we are not here to pick up dust we are here because, just like men are believed to have a mission, we have one too.
For the ones who claim that women deserve equal rights but not equal responsibility because we are female, I can ask why do we deserve to have a choice? Why do women get to choose and men get to obey? The power of a choice is great, but when someone does not have that power, like American men in this case, it is the same thing as disruption of freedom. Is someone really free if others force a life choice upon them? And lastly, to the ones that think that women will not be able to handle the emotional stress that going to war puts a person through, I understand there is a popular belief that women are more emotionally unstable, but the proven rates from a study conducted by neurologists from The Mindlab show that men are more emotional than women are when they are presented with a stimulus that will trigger a reaction.
The director of the Mindlab, Dr. David Lewis, further explained this project or study with the following statement: “Gender stereotypes about men being stoic and women being emotional are reinforced by our day to day consumption of media and our social interactions. We tend to oversimplify and exaggerate the perceived differences between men and women and are more likely to focus on evidence that supports our existing gender stereotypes. This study suggests that men feel emotion just as much as women, sometimes more strongly, but are less willing to express these emotions openly due to expectations put on them by society.”
The popular belief of women being more emotional is due to males being able to hide their feelings better. Men feel more, but hide those feelings better than women do, this is also proven by the number of suicides committed by males versus the number of suicides committed by females every year around the world. If women were too emotional for war, we would not be allowed to have jobs because the emotional stress that a job can give us would be way too much for us females to handle.
For all the controversy on this topic, the most logical and equality-based action that can be taken by the United States government is the legalization of a general draft that does not exclude any gender, or an abolishment of the law that states that only one gender is required to register for said draft. Although it is a common view on the topic of the male-only draft, the only realistic way in which the United States government will act on this issue is if many more of us stand up against it. We as Americans with loud voices must let our voices be heard and dismantle a law built on discrimination. I was made a woman, not because the world needed a weaker human, but because it needed another soldier.
