If sex is irrelevant, why are conscripts usually men and boys?

They still have different fitness tests for men and women though.

I read a discussion about this recently on Reddit (sure we all know the demographics on there) and my opinion is that IF conscription had to happen, then they'd have to conscript both sexes however we can't deny biological reality. It would be far better to put women to use as drivers / logistics / nurses etc than on the front line actually fighting.

It's my opinion that (in general) men have certain physical and psychological traits that make them better suited to frontline warfare.

But I don't actually agree with conscription. One volunteer is probably worth twenty of them.

Conscription in the UK ended in 1960 and at that time there were so many things women were not allowed to do, like open their own bank account without man to countersign, hold a mortgage without a man to countersign (if at all!), they had to give up work when they got married or at least when they got pregnant.

Now that women in theory have equality with men, even in the armed forces ( when I was in you had to leave if you had a baby and you were chucked out if they found you were gay) then if conscription were to be brought back, I'm sure it would be both men and women who were conscripted.

But I understand a fighting force is better and more efficient if it is made up of volunteers, not conscripts, so it's highly unlikely conscription would happen again.