🚀 go-pugleaf

Forgive me for bringing the subject back to the original topic at hand [:-)]
but I just want to add this, based on my own personal experiences as
a veteran (US Army, circa immediately post-Vietnam) in a combat arms
support position, and as someone who works regularly in the gender equity
field.

These are random points in no particular order:

1.  It absolutely *disgusts* me that there are (thankfully somewhat more 
isolated, now) pockets of "women's groups" which purport to speak for 
"all women" (they *certainly* don't speak for me!) who still advance a
theory of "qualified equality".  "Equal treatment for those areas where
we *want* equal treatment.   In those areas where we _don't_ want equal
treatment we should still be provided with a privileged status because
we are the 'weaker' sex.  These areas include not having to defend our
country to the point of possibly losing our own lives, not having
to support ourselves after divorce, and our automatically getting
custody of our children (and thus more support) upon divorce simply
because we are female."

2.  Isn't it interesting that a large number of those women who *did*
end up sent to a combat region in Desert Storm just _suddenly_ found
themselves pregnant, forcing their return to the states, away from the
danger zone?

3.  One often (if not always) overlooked concern about women in combat
(and a real one - I've seen it personally) is that many men still have
deeply ingrained helping/protecting responses towards women in certain
situations.  These manifest in ways ranging from opening doors, to
ensuring that a woman is out of harm's way to the detriment of their
own safety.  The *last* thing you want from a soldier on the front
line, or on a mission, is his being distracted from the task at hand
because he is dealing with an internal push which mandates that he
must not just focus on his task, but also worry about the team mate
next to him simply because she is a woman.  He needs to be
concentrating on his mission - not worrying about whether I am
properly covering my own back.  Holding his own position, not trying
to protect me.



-- 
   I am: mom, attorney, fathers' rights advocate, founder of F.R.E.E.(tm)
 *--> Fathers' Rights & Equality Exchange: www.vix.com/free or free@vix.com
 Inherent.Com: Website Architects to the Legal Community - anne@inherent.com
	        Actually, I'm a lawyer -and- I play one on tv.