Women in Combat

Here is an article I read on CNN.com today:
Women are already in combat...

I am of course of the mind that there are plenty of women out there who are just as capable of handling themselves in combat and let us be aware that there are already countries that not only have women in combat positions but require service so it is going to be hard for me to entertain the argument that a woman cannot hack combat situations based off of gender restrictions, to me that is about as outdated as the women should not vote because they are too delicate for politics argument of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Also... I have had the special privilege of getting to know women who have served, experienced combat, and have the wounds to prove it.  These women are brave, tough, and lived up to the challenges presented to them.  They gave and they experienced the same things as their male counterparts and in my opinion to deny them that equal right demonstrates the lasting stigma that women are somehow lesser in our society.

We still make less, there are still pretty stringent gender stereotypes, and I think that we all need to move forward and not rely on a ban put in place in the 90s that never made sense to me as a woman.

So in essence, if a woman wants to serve in the military, even be it on the front lines, she should have the chance to prove she can.

Here is another example

This is Tammy Duckworth who now a US Representative for the Illinois 8th congressional district.  She is apparently the first disabled woman elected to the US House of Representatives and she became disabled during her service in the Iraq war where she lost a leg and sustained other injuries when her helicopter was hit.  This woman is able, intelligent, and proves to me that these women are not delicate or unable to meet the physical requirements of war and so I really think its time to put even the well meaning protection instinct of some aside and let women be who they wish to be, in any capacity.  

It should not matter what gender a person it, it should matter if they have the desire, the drive, and the ability to meet the challenges in front of them...

There are plenty of women I could use as examples, who faced carnage and suffering from times long forgotten and so its time to let them face those challenges if they so choose.
We are not delicate flowers.

Here are some more pretty gutsy and hardcore women:

Long long ago...

An American Military History

Women in WWII

More women in WWII

Let me add... that my grandmother Mary R. Slaughter proudly served in Europe during WWII.  She received two bronze stars for her service and told me stories of her adventures when I was young, one of the reasons I love history...