Note to trolls: The obscene and threatening comments flooding in from the post on reddit will NOT be approved. I suppose you think it's clever to try to make a woman afraid of you, or to try to hurt a person with words, but your presence here is not welcome. Also, a two year old blog post? Are you seriously that hard up for recipients of your bullying and hate? I truly fear for the emotional and physical safety of the women in your lives.
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This will probably offend people who think terms like "feminazi" are reasonable and proper. And that's okay with me.
Opponents of feminism often bring up the subject of the draft--if women want equality so badly, then why aren't we asking to be included in the draft? After all, how fair is it that men have to be forced into combat, while women are excluded by default?
My answer to this is actually very simple: When women are represented in a realistic proportion in government, instead of being a token minority in a good ol' boys' club, we can talk about the draft. Until then, it is unconscionable to forcibly send women off to fight men's wars. The fact that women are not adequately represented in proportion to our demographics tells me that leveling the playing field in a negative fashion is not yet a fair thing to do. Additionally, I truly feel that, if our elected government were 50% women and 50% men (and, this would still give men an edge over the demographics--the population is about 49% male and 51% female), we probably would not even be doing this Iraq nonsense.
The fact is, only 16% of all convicted felons in State courts (in the USA) are women. A disproportionate amount of crime--especially violent crime--is committed by men. Yes, men are also crime victims, but they are most often victims of other men. For whatever reason, women aren't usually the ones responsible for rape, abuse, and murder, and they are quite a bit more often the victims of many of those crimes.
So, until women are making an equal wage, not disproportionately abused, raped, beaten, or murdered, and not disproportionately treated like sex objects, and adequately represented in all three branches of federal government, and in state governments, I don't want to hear whiny ass anti-feminists complaining about the draft. Sorry boys, but you just seem a bit too eager to send us off to die for your bullshit, and that is most definitely not okay.
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9 comments:
Succinct and amazingly well put.
I don't think anyone could've said it better.
I would also add that women are very often raped by their male comrades in arms. I find it unconscionable to order women to join an institution where they are extremely likely to be sexually assaulted, reports of the assault will be ignored (or result in further threats), and mental health care and counseling are woefully inadequate.
You go, Girl!
Some anti-feminists are actually bringing up the draft argument? Are they kidding? There are women who (don't ask me why) are BEGGING to be let into combat and the anti-feminists won't let them! Sorry boys, you can't have it both ways.
i agree.
i would add that the draft isn't fair to men, either, and that in a just world (like one that includes women as full citizens) we wouldn't be employing such a tactic, like you say.
if that *one* unfairness to men is the only thing some misogynistic bozo can drag up when they're thinking of causes that feminists should be hard at work on, well ... um, okay. we'll get right on that. we'll advance that one cause if you fix all the others. how's that? go on! get to work. RIGHT BEHIND YA, man.
Rio-
Brilliant. I will keep this article well-honed and lob it like a grenade (who said women can't fight?)
Carrie
i have quite a lot of family & friends in various branches and ranks of the military (male and female); I would say that, were there a draft, women should not be drafted until they are held to the same requirements and standards! and put into the same situations (e.g. frontline) as the men they are equal to. It burns my buns to hear my brother (who is very much an a**hole) talk bad about the women and hold them w/ no respect b/c they were held to a lower standard and not as qualified as the men doing the same job. wherein i go on a tireade and point out that i am in better shape and stronger than most of the men in his unit, and could probably find my way around a wiring diagram easier (he's in the motor repair part of the army). grrrrrr.
Yes, Rio, YES!!!!!!!!!!
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