IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
On line Column # 138
January 28, 2013
“One Hundred Eighty Degrees of Difference”
Last week’s decision to allow women in combat positions prompted a lot of discussion among civilians and military alike. Since American history lost its prominence in our schools and most Americans know little of it, I am not surprised that ignorance rules.
Among the Revolutionary, Civil War, and Mexican War troops were women, disguised as men and using aliases.
During World War I, more than 20,000 women served and 400 died. World War II saw the numbers climb to 350,000. Of those more than 60,000 served as Army nurses and over 4,000 as Navy nurses. The WAACs, formed in 1942, served overseas in England, France, Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines.
Research confirms that 67 Army nurses captured in the Philippines were held as Japanese POWs for nearly three years. The Japanese also captured some Navy nurses during the war.
Nurses served in every conflict, often wounded or killed in action. The impressive Washington, D.C. memorial to nurses speaks volumes and complements the Vietnam and World War II Memorials to honor those who gave their lives to defend America and freedom for all people.
The Army wasn’t alone either. Alongside the Navy, the Marines and Coast Guard also formed reserve units for women. Further strides were made over the years and in 2012, more than 14% of the military was made up of women. Over 165,000 are enlisted personnel and well over 35,000 serve as officers. The recent Panetta decision reverses the 1994 ban on combat assignments for women.
While discussion, undoubtedly, will continue ad nauseum, there is a valid point to one argument. It is a stretch to imagine a woman pulling a 200-pound-plus comrade from harm’s way. In addition, the specter of torture for a female outstrips that of a male when dealing with militant Islam.
I seldom reflect on past columns, but one written in 2004, a few years after the outbreak of the Gulf War, is germane at this point. Entitled, “Does Alma Matter?” (a take off on Alma Mater), the text is self-explanatory.
The Shelbyville News
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
“Does Alma Matter?”
Published 02-26-04
Word Count: 745
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m as far from what society terms a “feminist” as one can be. I enjoy being a woman, to be truthful; I have earned the moniker of “Doris Domestic.” I adore sewing and knitting, and among my favorite household chores are washing windows and ironing. Are you beginning to get the picture? Good. I want you to understand my perspective before I launch into this column.
Have you ever wondered precisely what propels civilization to greatness? Is it raw power? How about ideology? Maybe it’s strategic location or natural resources. Perhaps, but despite the fact that political scientists cite these factors as seminal, I offer another slant to the picture — a slant that should make you stop and think.
History illustrates that when a civilization relegates women solely to child bearing, manual labor, and a social status on par with livestock, true progress escapes its grasp. Oh, a country may prosper for a time, but without true respect between the sexes, progress is close to nil.
From early beginnings, nations rose and fell — many times on their own swords. Military might pushed groups forward until others developed a better weapon or amassed a larger army. Some societies isolated boys from their families and trained them as soldiers. Want to guess what kind of husbands THEY made once they returned home?
Asian societies placed some women in high station and ignored others. Consider the Geisha and the wife in pre-World War II Japan. After the war, women flooded universities and their talents helped to fuel the virtual rebirth of the Japanese economy. Today, Japan boasts women scientist, physicians, and engineers who compete with the best men in the world.
It is rare to see a Japanese woman walking behind her husband today. Yet, such a change came over centuries, not decades — and only after the introduction of Western culture.
Poverty is the key in underdeveloped nations. In these often forgotten places, few people muse over the division of labor. Simply staying alive poses daunting challenges to struggling people, and countless children die before the age of five. In the real Third World, to draw comparisons between men and women is futile.
Military dictatorships illustrate distinctly different situations. Africa finds itself plagued with such governments. Genocide is not uncommon, and worldwide media pay little attention to what goes inside the borders. Merely traveling within such countries exposes reporters to mortal danger. Charities that focus on human rights abuses in such countries find it hard to estimate the human costs of guns over butter — as if butter were a food choice anyway!
Consider Afghanistan under the Taliban. Government stripped widows of their husbands’ property and relegated them to beg in the streets. Sadly, many resorted to selling their own bodies. Covered from head to toe, these desperate women peered at the world through tiny mesh screens in heavy birkas. Any hope for dignity died with their husbands.
When the Taliban came to power, women government officials, as well as women doctors and engineers, lost their jobs. The society began to disintegrate from within. By the time US forces helped to liberate the Afghani people from the clutches of the religious extremists, infrastructure had crumbled and business had suffered mightily.
In The Middle East, “female castration” remains a common right of passage for girls. Often done with no medical training and with not anesthetic, the horrific procedure deprives women of the ability to enjoy a sexual physical relationship with a partner. Some claim that the practice stems from men’s fears that wives will stray from marital bonds. Even if that is true, the act itself brands the people who condone it as well as those who perform it. I find it hard to put an adjective to their inhumanity.
No society is perfect, yet America comes as close as many think possible. Law disallows discrimination on the basis of gender. Year by year, women’s wages creep upward, and that legendary “glass ceiling” has a few cracks in it. I wouldn’t trade places with the women who push to make it to the top, but neither would I purposefully hold them back. I do question the undeserved label placed on those who choose to stay home and rear their children. Motherhood merits the highest praise.
Why not use the position of women as a measure of societal progress? If Alma doesn’t matter, shouldn’t she? (End of column)
Minus the statement about homemakers, the entire subject begs one statement: The way a society or culture treats its women and children speaks volumes. Basics are basics.
We put our women on the front lines, fighting. Muslims put their women (and children!) as human shields. They know we value life. They boast that they value death. They also know we consider the lives of innocents even at the height of battle. Indeed, there is a 180º difference between America and Militant Islam.
As with any characteristic, valuing women and human life can and will be turned against us. Our high standards put us at risk. I hope that such risk doesn’t exact a terrible price on those women who volunteer to fight for us. We owe them as much respect as the men who serve alongside them. Think about it.