Written speech - in favor of integrating women into the battlefield

 

 

An issue dealing with the integration of women in the battlefield was, and still is, seen as an issue full of disputes and difficulties. This issue frequents the discussion tables at the top of the Mitchel and various social bodies, which constantly put it on the public agenda. Apparently, it seems that this is really a difficult and complicated polemic. It seems that the solution to this issue is fundamentally far away, and there is still a long way to go until the conclusions and decisions regarding this complex matter are reached.

But let me tell you. The conclusions have long been on the table. Studies published in recent years by various security and military bodies in modern developed countries present one clear picture - women can indeed integrate into the battlefield - and can even do so with great success.

So you must be asking, if all the conclusions and studies point to the proven ability to integrate women into the battlefield - why is this move not being realized in practice and why are we not currently observing and feeling a fundamental and perceptual change, which is in line with the findings?

Why are those people who are responsible for driving this move in the army still procrastinating, and some even deny the conclusions and freeze any step that will lead to this important progress?

And on a perceptual level, why would it still be difficult for many of us to picture in our imagination a woman holding a sniper rifle, or alternatively, a woman driving a Mark 4 chariot tank?

I will answer these questions now, referring to two main levels: the cognitive-equal level and the biological level.

 

Let's start with the biological plane, because it is actually the main rationale of those who oppose the integration of women in the battlefield:

Let's not fool ourselves. Statistically, there is a gap between the physical abilities of women compared to men. Studies have revealed that in the field of cardiopulmonary endurance, the women's performance was approximately 33% lower than the performance of the men who participated in the study. In addition, the women's muscle mass was lower than the men's. But before we embrace these findings, let's remember that studies, still at their core, are based on statistics and sometimes on the establishment of inclusive assumptions, which do not always coincide with the individual. To this end, today the army has learned to send in the first order, an option for girls who wish to join combat roles to pass. Fitness tests as a condition for their admission to the combat units. The IDF declares that it does not make any concessions and the demands from those girls are the same as the demands from the boys designated to serve alongside them. This is basically a solution that satisfies both parties. On the one hand, the IDF is faithful to the medical findings that exist regarding the women's physical fitness, but on the other hand, it does not hermetically close the possibility of those women being integrated into combat positions, many of whom pass successfully, and advance to significant command positions in those combat units. The IDF is not the only army in the world working to integrate women into combat routes. Developed countries such as Norway, Belgium, Canada and Denmark have long since opened all fields of specialization to women, including combat specializations.

So if there is a solution - what is the problem? The problem concerns positions that are not yet open to women. Have you ever thought to yourself, why, for example, the Nahal Brigade, a combat unit by all accounts, opened its doors to some of the positions for women who were found to be suitable in terms of their physical fitness, although in contrast the paratrooper unit still stands by its decision not to recruit women in a sweeping manner?

To answer these puzzling questions, I will have to turn to the equal-consciousness plane:

On the equal-consciousness level:

When we look throughout history, we find that women, from the beginning, did not have the same opportunities as men. The traditional role of women as mothers, their biological role for the continuation of the human race, the preservation of the stereotype of the feminine ideal (sensitivity, gentleness, submission and dependence) and on the other hand the preservation of the exclusive social role of men as warriors who protect women, and the preservation of the stereotype of the masculine ideal (strong, controlling, violent) - Enter the deep consciousness of the human race - anytime and anywhere.

But we know today that at the same rapid rate at which technology and modernization are developing in recent centuries - at the same speed all those myths on which entire cultures and peoples have based their lives for many years are being shattered.

Studies, scientific developments and various processes in the understanding of man and the environment frequently change the face of accepted reality, and in their wake - change the face of reality and force the human race to get used to a new discovered reality.

Today, even the most conservative bodies realize that they have no choice but to accept the reality slapped in their faces, that there is no longer even the slightest difference between the abilities and skills of women compared to men, with the exception of a number of innate biological differences, but which still do not impair the ability of women to integrate In every field in which men are engaged today - including combat roles.

 

One of the facts which proves the army's inability to deal with the social-egalitarian pressure of the conclusions detailed above, and which indicates that the IDF is today educated to understand that there is no escape, but to go in the direction of the growing egalitarian trend, speaks of the fact that today 88% of the military positions in the IDF We are formally open to serve women. This is compared to 73% from the positions a decade ago and 56% from the positions two decades ago.

In conclusion

The upward trend in the integration of women into the combat formation clearly indicates an understanding by military officials that it is now possible to integrate women more and more in other positions and in other fields. Don't be surprised if in the next decade the remaining 12% will also be opened to women.

The words of the advisor to the Chief of Staff for women's affairs: "The 12 percent, which are not yet open to women, are expected to be opened in the future as part of ongoing staff work that is currently underway to open them under conditions that enable an environment of success for women."

So even if some of us have some sliver of thought left, which devalues the ability of women compared to men - then we must sober up, admit and recognize the clear reality - that the age of darkness is over, and that there is no room for inequality!

Various combat units and roles that are still hermetically closed to women without justifiable reason and without giving even the slightest opportunity to be accepted into them, are evidence of abject discrimination against women and the human stupidity that still echoes in our heads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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