# Should women be drafted into combat units (USA) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 16, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455 "2014-02-16T02:25:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/21 "2014-02-16T03:36:41Z")
I was under the, I guess, false assumption that there was no draft of any kind… So if there IS a draft, why shouldn’t women be drafted? If for no other reason then to do the cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/22 "2014-02-16T03:36:53Z")
> [@XT](#): > > No…and neither should men. Conscription sucks, basically, and we are much, MUCH better off with the all volunteer force we have today than any of the conscripted armies we had in the past. > > Now, if you are asking should women be eligible to be in combat units, that’s a whole 'nother question…the answer to which we as a society have already decided on, since women are allowed into combat units if they can meet the requirements (just like men). i dont think society will be able to tolerate it. leaving all political correctness to the side on both sides of the issue, when americans start to think about their daughters and girl friends being forced into roles where they will be shot or blown up by land mines. they won’t be able to make that adjustment. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/23 "2014-02-16T03:37:52Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > i dont think society will be able to tolerate it. leaving all political correctness to the side on both sides of the issue, when americans start to think about their daughters and girl friends being forced into roles where they will be shot or blown up by land mines. they won’t be able to make that adjustment. Um, Robert…you really need to keep up with current events. Women are ALREADY allowed into combat roles in the military in the US, and have been for quite a while now. Seriously…didn’t you know this? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/24 "2014-02-16T03:38:16Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I was under the, I guess, false assumption that there was no draft of any kind… > So if there IS a draft, why shouldn’t women be drafted? If for no other reason then to do the cooking. the draft is still an option. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/25 "2014-02-16T03:38:33Z")
Robert, could you please capitalize properly? It makes your post less painful to read. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/26 "2014-02-16T03:39:40Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > well, actually, i was looking for a valid defense for women not to be drafted. but if you want to know whether i think feminists are going to approach this topic logically, i don’t. What a bunch of rubbish. If you have something against feminists, why don’t you open a Pit thread. It’s ludicrous for you to speculate about what position “feminists” will take wrt the draft. On what basis do you do so? I’m w/ **MsWhatit**. If there is a draft, men and women should be eligible. And that doesn’t even depend on women serving in combat roles. There are more non-combat roles in times of war than combat roles, especially now. But… there should be no draft. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/27 "2014-02-16T03:40:19Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > i dont think my comments are so badly written in terms of grammar that they cant be comprehended. i know some people get caught up in such points but i’m not one. I decided to go off on that tangent because your actual point seems kind of dumb. You decided that the imaginary feminists who live in your head would be outraged if women were included in the draft, so you wrote a post that only barely managed to touch on that issue and then informed us about halfway down the page that this was actually meant as some kind of anti-feminism rant instead of the half-cocked draft rant it kind of sort of originally looked like. Talking about punctuation is more fun and makes more sense. If you see a red squiggly line underneath the words in the post reply box, that probably means it’s misspelled, and if you right-click it, you’ll get a list of possible suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/28 "2014-02-16T03:40:38Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Um, guy…you really need to keep up with current events. Women are ALREADY allowed into combat roles in the military in the US, and have been for quite a while now. Seriously…didn’t you know this? the military recently changed its official position. that is what i am referring to. if you want to point out that women in the military served as MP’s or some similar position often wound up in combat, yes, i knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/29 "2014-02-16T03:43:52Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I decided to go off on that tangent because your actual point seems kind of dumb. > > You decided that the imaginary feminists who live in your head would be outraged if women were included in the draft, so you wrote a post that only barely managed to touch on that issue and then informed us about halfway down the page that this was actually meant as some kind of anti-feminism rant instead of the half-cocked draft rant it kind of sort of originally looked like. > > Talking about punctuation is more fun and makes more sense. If you see a red squiggly line underneath the words in the post reply box, that probably means it’s misspelled, and if you right-click it, you’ll get a list of possible suggestions. yes but i dont like spell checkers. in this post for example MsWhatsit is in red and is very annoying. lots of words are use din everyday language that spellcheckers dont accept. and i predict that feminists will be rather silent about the issue. either response for them is problematic so they will probably steer clear. but of course i could be wrong about that. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/30 "2014-02-16T03:45:02Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > the military recently changed its official position. that is what i am referring to. if you want to point out that women in the military served as MP’s or some similar position often wound up in combat, yes, i knew that. Do you have a cite that the military changed it’s official position recently? Did you not know that women have been combat pilots and serve on US Navy warships in combat? Several hundred US service women have died in Iraq and Afghanistan…again, were you unaware of this? I don’t see the public freaking out about this fact (of course, perhaps like you they didn’t realize). ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/31 "2014-02-16T03:45:40Z")
“In red and very annoying” is going to be my next custom user title, if I ever get around to making one again. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/32 "2014-02-16T03:47:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What a bunch of rubbish. If you have something against feminists, why don’t you open a Pit thread. It’s ludicrous for you to speculate about what position “feminists” will take wrt the draft. On what basis do you do so? > > I’m w/ **MsWhatit**. If there is a draft, men and women should be eligible. And that doesn’t even depend on women serving in combat roles. There are more non-combat roles in times of war than combat roles, especially now. > > But… there should be no draft. Based upon the tendency of feminists to be very non committal on the very few instances where you can actually find examples of men getting discriminated against. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/33 "2014-02-16T03:48:15Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > yes, but no offense if you are a woman, do you really expect feminists to get outraged if women aren’t drafted into combat units? i predict that they will not. there are some examples of double standards by feminism and i predict this will be one. Right, because men have a long standing history of petitioning against their own self interest. It’s such a _feminist_ double standard. Personally, I’d like to see feminists keep working hard for things that _don’t_ get women hurt, like access to safe abortions and equal pay. Begging to be drafted can wait for another day. > [@Robert163](#): > > Based upon the tendency of feminists to be very non committal on the very few instances where you can actually find examples of men getting discriminated against. At last count men make up most of the seats in the House and Senate. If they wanted to include women in the draft or undo the requirement for men to be drafted, the power is in their own hands. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/34 "2014-02-16T03:49:23Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > yes but i dont like spell checkers. in this post for example MsWhatsit is in red and is very annoying. lots of words are use din everyday language that spellcheckers dont accept. > > and i predict that feminists will be rather silent about the issue. either response for them is problematic so they will probably steer clear. but of course i could be wrong about that. You can’t think of any _other_ reason they might steer clear of this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/35 "2014-02-16T03:50:48Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Do you have a cite that the military changed it’s official position recently? Did you not know that women have been combat pilots and serve on US Navy warships in combat? Several hundred US service women have died in Iraq and Afghanistan…again, were you unaware of this? I don’t see the public freaking out about this fact (of course, perhaps like you they didn’t realize). there is a difference between your wife daughter or girl friend wanting to be a fighter pilot and not being allowed to be one and being forced to be a fighter pilot. i dont think the public will accept the idea. i could be wrong but i think it is too big a stretch. i think it will be a case where ideals break down in the face of reality. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/36 "2014-02-16T03:52:12Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > there is a difference between your wife daughter or girl friend wanting to be a fighter pilot and not being allowed to be one and being forced to be a fighter pilot. i dont think the public will accept the idea. i could be wrong but i think it is too big a stretch. i think it will be a case where ideals break down in the face of reality. You do realize there hasn’t been a draft in about 40 years? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/37 "2014-02-16T03:55:14Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Right, because men have a long standing history of petitioning against their own self interest. It’s such a _feminist_ double standard. wont disagree with you there > [@](#): > > Personally, I’d like to see feminists keep working hard for things that _don’t_ get women hurt, like access to safe abortions and equal pay. Begging to be drafted can wait for another day. I think you described it much better than i could. still it is a bit hypocritical if they don’t address the issue. > [@](#): > > At last count men make up most of the seats in the House and Senate. If they wanted to include women in the draft or undo the requirement for men to be drafted, the power is in their own hands. I doubt the will vote to draft women into combat units. I think it will be a source of contention but at the end of they day, no draft. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/38 "2014-02-16T03:56:33Z")
> [@Robert163](#): > > Based upon the tendency of feminists to be very non committal on the very few instances where you can actually find examples of men getting discriminated against. Well, if you say so it must true. :rolleyes: Did you read that somewhere on the internet or did you make that up all by yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/39 "2014-02-16T03:56:39Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My answer is: If there’s a draft, then yes, everyone should be in it. But there shouldn’t be a draft. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m w/ **MsWhatit**. If there is a draft, men and women should be eligible. And that doesn’t even depend on women serving in combat roles. There are more non-combat roles in times of war than combat roles, especially now. > > But… there should be no draft. I am a feminist and even if you limited yourself to the options of “men are drafted” and “men and women are drafted”, I still refuse to support the latter. I do not support the expansion of a morally abhorrent policy just to give it a veneer of “fairness”. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455/40 "2014-02-16T03:57:32Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You do realize there hasn’t been a draft in about 40 years? you do realize the cubs have never won the world series in over 100 don’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-women-be-drafted-into-combat-units-usa/681455.md?page=3)