To wonder why women are not allowed into combat?

[Weathergames]

The main reason being they don't have the "upper body strength" but Olympians have disproved this.

If you want to join the forces male or female
surely you should be able to perform all roles required (however grim/unethical etc).

Former head of the Army, Lord Dannatt, said keeping women out of combat roles was a "point of principle".

"To be in a unit that is given orders to attack a hill, to attack a town, to attack a village, that is a role not for women," he said.

Am not sure about this - OH is a submariner and they have allowed women on board (they must be NUTS to want to go).

Surely it's pretty sexist?

[meditrina]

Women do go into combat roles.

They are not infanteers, tankies or marines. But you find them on the front line in many, many roles. Including ones which fight.

[PenelopeKeeling]

I once asked a soldier this and he said that it was because if a woman soldier got into trouble, the men would want to help her rather than carry on fighting. He said it like that was the way they all saw it, but maybe it was just him...

There is also a view that woman are just not naturally violent or aggressive, but obviously they can be - many women have murdered.

[MojitoMadness]

I agree with you OP. I was a bit when I heard in the news today that they're considering putting women into combat now. I thought women had been on the front lines in combat for years!

[NigellasDealer]

I have heard it is
a) because men will be more gallant to them than to fellow men soldiers which might be risky
b) they might be pregnant

anyway I beleive that women do now go into more front line roles than previously

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Well I don't want to stab anyone with a bayonet.

[SirChenjin]

I thought they were allowed into combat now

[StrawberryGashes]

penelope I've also heard that same point too, that they would put themselves at risk to help a woman or to protect her.

[Joylin]

Olympians have proved it, they have women's only competitions for a reason!!! Compare the strongest men with the strongest women for the same weights, compare the fastest men with the fastest women. The truth is that of the top physically able females, there'll always be plenty of men capable of effortlessly beating them.

[subtleplansarehereagain]

But a lot of combat isn't physical now, is it? The US are remotely flying drones from miles away.

[specialsubject]

I'm not spatially inept, and I'm female...

[stubbornstains]

But on the plus side....you live longer than a man, statistically speaking. I reckon we get the better end of the deal.

[DefiniteMaybe]

I don't know anything about this subject but surely on the front line a woman will be more vulnerable than a man. If she was captured for example she'd probably be more likely to be raped than a male soldier.
Fighting tends to be more common in places where women have much less rights than men so in a situation like that the female soldier would be seen as an insult to the other side and again be more vulnerable.

[NigellasDealer]

I am not 'spatially inept' thank you kate!
mind you an awful lot of women are it is true....

[NigellasDealer]

also you could not have had trench warfare with women having their periods could you?

[meditrina]

"The US are remotely flying drones from miles away."

And that is an example of the sort of combat role already open to women.

[StrawberryGashes]

I'm definitely spatially inept, although this could be more to do with my hypermobility than my gender.

[Weathergames]

Women on submarines having periods is not a pleasant thought either - esp now they aren't allowed to dump their rubbish in the sea any more

[Mitchy1nge]

there are plenty of men who don't meet the physical and psychological requirements for attack roles too - even if on average more men than women will satisfy the fitness standards that's not a good enough reason to bar all women from those jobs is it?

having said that my niece is on the front line at the moment in Afghanistan but the fact that it's not a close combat role isn't a massive comfort to my brother!

[ManWithNoName]

Women do go into extremely dangerous undercover surveillance roles and could end up in combat very easily.

I believe the Israeli army has many women in combat roles.

[Weathergames]

Sorry meant the British forces.

[Birdsgottafly]

Corus, if you really want to be able to beat most people to death with your hands, then you can be as good as the average man, with training.

Other than for that reason, females aren't compromised.