Should women be eligible for the "the draft"?

[sojourner]

I used to have a friend in high school that said if the women's rights movement was sincere then they should also be fighting to be included in military conscription. I can see the point as to be truly equal you have to take the responsibilities along with the benefits.


Also, is it more tragic when a woman dies than a man?

 

[WillsBabe]

Yes, and no.

 

[JRS]

I am from Finland where military service is mandatory, though to men only. Women can also go to the military, if they so choose.
Some people say that women should also have to do it, because equal rights and so on.
(I have read comments, regarding this issue, that since women give birth they do not need any extra obligations from society. Though having babies is not mandatory..)

I generally think that voluntary service is the way to go.
It is pretty much fair to everyone involved.
But I also believe that women should be allowed serve in combat, I know that in some armies they can only serve on a supportive or non-combat roles.

 

[sidious618]

I'm anti-draft in all circumstances but if there was one it'd only be fair if it was for both sexes. And, no, I don't get more upset when a woman dies; how upset I get depends on how much I like the person.

 

[cultcross]

I'm anti-draft in all circumstances but if there was one it'd only be fair if it was for both sexes.

This. I am against conscription, but I'm even more against discriminatory conscription.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Count me in with the "I'd prefer no draft, but if there is, then be gender-neutral about it" camp.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I think putting women in the draft would help ensure it would never actually be used.

 

[auntiehill]

Well, with the modern military, I don't think we really need a draft anymore. However, if there was a draft, then both young men and women should be drafted. If someone is young and physically capable of serving, then they should, regardless of gender.

 

[Myasishchev]

I used to have a friend in high school that said if the women's rights movement was sincere then they should also be fighting to be included in military conscription. I can see the point as to be truly equal you have to take the responsibilities along with the benefits.

What draft?

The thing is, most people who were into feminism were also into ending conscription. Which makes sense; each was (and in feminism's case is) a fight against a system that deprived individuals of agency.

Of course, it's moot anyway, as short of an unimaginable national disaster which would bring in female soldiers or at least support personnel anyway as volunteers (e.g. a civil war), the military has no use for conscripts.

(Legally, I'd think a male-only draft is far more susceptible to 13th amendment attacks than equal protection clause attacks. "Involuntary servitude" is relatively clear, but a case for sex discrimination for an important governmental purpose--e.g., not subjecting the reproductively limited sex to being shot with guns--is pretty easily made. 99% of the male population of the United States could die tomorrow, but the nation could theoretically survive.)

Also, is it more tragic when a woman dies than a man?

For the reasons described above, yes. Unless it's me. Then it would be more tragic. I expect to survive the coming war. When it's over, I will do my duty.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I'm anti-draft in all circumstances but if there was one it'd only be fair if it was for both sexes.

This. I am against conscription, but I'm even more against discriminatory conscription.

Count me in with the "I'd prefer no draft, but if there is, then be gender-neutral about it" camp.

I agree with the three of you.

 

[Gaith]

Sure, if there's a draft, draft 'em - but for strictly noncombat, non-weapons-carrying positions only. Result: more sailor lasses for us sailor lads.

 

[marillion]

Count me in the "yes" catagory.. But since there currently is no draft, I would like to see it be mandatory for women to have to sign up for Selective Service when they turn 18, just like men do.

I too, argued this point when I was in college.. I had a fairly femenist girlfriend who, I thought rather hipocritically, didn't agree that women should have to sign up.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Italy had one year of compulsory service for all men until a few years ago: you could choose between military and civil service: the latter was technically for conscientious objectors, but virtually all people who opted for that did it for more mundane reasons. Today enlisting to the armed forces is completely voluntary and open to both sexes, as it should be.

And, no, I don't get more upset when a woman dies; how upset I get depends on how much I like the person.

True, but on the other hand I usually like women much more than men.

 

[-Brett-]

Should women be eligible for the "the draft"?

No, because there shouldn't be a draft. A society so lacking that it's own citizens won't voluntarily defend it doesn't deserve to survive.

 

[Kestra]

Sidious pretty much got it.

 

[trampledamage]

Count me in the "yes" catagory.. But since there currently is no draft, I would like to see it be mandatory for women to have to sign up for Selective Service when they turn 18, just like men do.

What's Selective Service? Is this something all men in America have to sign up for now?


Count me in to the "against all conscription, but if you're going to do it, drag in everyone" camp.

 

[Lindley]

What's Selective Service? Is this something all men in America have to sign up for now?

You have to register for it when you turn 18, yes. It's been that way for a while. In theory, that's the database they would use for a draft; in practice, it doesn't really affect much.

 

[Roger Wilco]

In Austria there's general conscription and every able man has to do either military (6 months) or civil service (9 months). My mother's (who's quite a feminist) argument against women being obligated to do it too - besides how pointless, wasteful and economically stupid it is to make men do it in general - always was that women "lose" the same amount of time when they get children. And that as long as men don't take more responsibility for caring for their families it would be unfair to put that additional burden on women on top of everything else they already have to deal with that men don't.

 

[sidious618]

Sidious pretty much got it.

I'm going to save this post and reread it for the rest of my life.

 

[sojourner]

Should women be eligible for the "the draft"?

No, because there shouldn't be a draft. A society so lacking that it's own citizens won't voluntarily defend it doesn't deserve to survive.

You're just avoiding the question.