Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 9 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 25 years, 6 months ago by
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How do women feel about their exclusion from the Selective Service registration process upon turning 18? What, if anything, is being done to include women, and do women feel this “equal rights” issue should not apply to them? Why or why not?
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Name : Bill L., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : French/Canadian descent, Age : 40, City : Essex Junction, State : VT, Country : United States, Occupation : Accountant/Analyst, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I find this response astonishing from a Quaker! I thought Quakers were one of the ‘historic peace churches’. What happened to ‘that of God in every one’? I was raised Mennonite and therefore pacifist, and my gut reaction to questions about women in the military is not to say that women should also be drafted and fight beside men but to wonder whether the men should be killing either. Nobody, man or woman, should be used as a killing machine, especially when it is not their choice (as in a draft or obligatory military service).
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Name : CP19391, Gender : F, Age : 21, City : Montreal, Quebec, State : NA, Country : Canada,I cannot speak for all women, but I find this to be a sexist policy. Equal rights are only achieved with equal responsibilities. It is also patronizing as it comes from an ideal that women are somehow “weaker” or require protection. When given a reason to kill, women make excellent killers – a good trait for a soldier.
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Name : Sarah-S28376, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Friend (Quaker), Age : 27, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Professional, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I don’t really understand why women are not included. Given the number of positions that women hold in the military, it seems very odd that we would not consider drafting women just as well as men. I have heard the reasons for not having women in combat positions. Some seem valid, but many do not, but that still doesn’t explain why women aren’t drafted for non-combat positions. This seems to be one of the legacy situations we have in which we haven’t really thought about and figured out if it makes sense or not.
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Name : Donna-C, Gender : F, City : Pasadena, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,As a woman who has been in the service, I see no reason why women should not be included in Selective Service. I chose to go into the service to visit other countries and earn money for college. I enjoyed my time in and would not trade it for anything, though you couldn’t pay me enough to go through basic again. I choose to live in this country and if called upon would be willing to defend her. I believe it is by tradition that women are not included in Selective Service, but I think that tradition’s time is past and that all should participate.
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Name : S. Wear, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Methodist, Age : 33, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Programmer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Women are full citizens of this country and enjoy full benefits. We should also bear the weight of equal responsibility when it comes to defending this nation. While I can’t honestly say I’m sorry I wasn’t able to register for Selective Service when I was 18, I definitely believe it is not right for this country to persist in antiquated notions of a woman’s “place” in society. That goes for equality in relationships, employment and the military.
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Name : Amy-A, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 30, City : LaCrosse, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : Mortgage Banker, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,While I am a pacifist and against most of the stupid military actions this country seems to take, I do consider it completely unfair that women are not required to register. Equal rights come with equal responsibilities; and I, for one, would not want to be exempt from the responsibility.
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Name : Larisa-M26215, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 23, City : San Francisco, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : engineering student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I do not take issue with the fact that I am not allowed to be drafted. Furthermore, I may be considered backward for this opinion, but I do not feel it is my duty to fight as my husband would. I feel that I would best serve my country at home. I do not believe that women are similarly equipped for battle. For example,the military has had to change its directives on carrying a stretcher with a person on it from the original ‘2’ people to ‘4’ to accommodate women because we are generally not strong enough to carry it with just two of us.
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Name : Elizabeth-Ketchem, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : Birmingham, State : AL, Country : United States, Occupation : Sales, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,If women were treated equally in terms of pay and were thought of as equals by men, then perhaps they would feel more comfortable being a part of the selective service. I don’t think that women are treated equally at all. When we are treated equally we will take on the responsibilities associated with the equality.
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Name : susan27478, City : New York, State : NY, Country : United States,What are you going to do now? Start telling young women with children to go fight for their country? Are you telling me that I have to say to my daughter, when you are a teenager make sure you sign up for war so that you can be equally respected as a man? Please! Women, who want to fight, by all means do so. But do not put your need to fight alongside men on other women, who do not need to join the military or compete with men to feel worthy!
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Name : amoranda, City : d.c., State : DC, Country : United States,
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