War as an Equalizer

I read an interesting article about women who fight in the military, particularly about a women named Vivienne Pacquette who has been employed in the army for more than 20 years and spent 2 of those years in Iraq. The main focus of the article was post-traumatic stress disorder, (click here for more information on p.t.s.d.) which results from the trauma that the soldiers deal with while employed. Post-traumatic stress disorder can distorts personalities, lead to trouble sleeping, paranoia, and isolation. The article says that never before has there been so many women "paralyzed by the psychological scars of combat", and this is due to a historic shift in that the military has allowed women to take part in ground combat, positions previously barred from women.

Experts who have been studying these women acknowledge that female soldiers have been dealing with the stresses that come from fighting in ground combat just as well as the males are, and that "Psychologically, it seems, they are emerging as equals." But, different circumstances upon returning home lead to differences in coping between males and females. Regardless, Vivienne Pacquette, along with many other women, believe that war has been an equalizer. Instead of women being seen as weak, they are now fighting side by side men in Iraq, facing road side bombs, mortar attacks, and shootings, together.

So does this mean that we need war in order to bring equality between males and females? I think that by allowing men and women to fight side by side together in a war, they are creating equality in the war zone, because neither gender has a direct advantage: both are facing the same dangers and being effected mentally almost the same. Without war, I think that many people would still see women as physically inferior to men. But I also think that many people in society will still view women as less than when they return home from war because of the stereotypical role they are cast into. Indeed, the article says, "after completing important jobs in the war, women...smack up against old-fashioned ignorance: male veterans and friends who do not recognize them as "real soldiers";... and a society that expects them to be feminine nurturers, not the nurtured." People are not used to women in the role of a soldier, but I think that as more and more women do take on this role, it will help women to escape from their stereotypical role in society.

(picture from http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/23640/thumbs/s-FEMALE-large.jpg)