Posted on 01/15/2014 6:32:13 AM PST by Phillyred
I KNOW that I will probably get some flack for this, but I just can't hold my tongue any longer on this issue of female Marines participating in combat.
I've been following this story closely for the past two years, and let's just say that this is where the egalitarian rubber meets the road.
If you haven't been following the story, here's the skinny:
More than half of female Marines can't do three pull-ups, and that's the minimum standard that the Marine Corps designated to integrate women into combat jobs. According to the military, eight pull-ups is a perfect score for females, but male recruits must do 20 pull-ups for a perfect score.
If we're all the same, why the gender exception? Shouldn't women be required to do 20 pull-ups, too?
Additionally, female recruits should also be physically capable of climbing a rope, scaling a wall, marching 12 miles with an 88-pound pack and, of course, be capable of throwing a wounded comrade over one's shoulder while running under combat fire to safety.
Now, don't get me wrong. As a red-blooded, equal-rights-loving American womanist and fitness enthusiast, I fully salute any woman who can make the grade by passing this physically and emotionally grueling test. And, sure, there may be a few outliers that can actually achieve it, but they will be the rare exception.
The question is, will those few outliers be enough to make a difference? I doubt it. Should we be tailoring the toughest and most physically demanding military training by gender? Absolutely not!
I get it. We are on this nonsensical egalitarian trip and just don't want to admit the truth - women and men are different.
That's right, folks - women cannot compete physically with men.
Does anyone find this fact surprising?
For example, let's just take WNBA phenomenon Candice Parker, who some say is the best female basketball player. Now, with all due respect to Ms. Parker, does anyone think that she could be a serious contender in the NBA competing against top male basketball players like LeBron, Kobe or Kevin Garnett? Of course not, right? Why? Because even the best female basketball player is no match for her male counterpart, whose sheer physicality would in all probability crush her's 99.9 percent of the time.
Without a doubt, most people would agree that a co-ed NBA is probably a bad idea, just like integrating women into direct ground-combat fighting teams.
Although I am all about equal opportunity, lowering the bar and allowing women to squeak by with the basic minimum fitness requirements is a disservice to all. You're either qualified to do the job, or not. Lowering the standards for political correctness is not just irresponsible, it will, no doubt, prove to be deadly.
Kimberly Garrison is a wellness coach and owner of One on One Ultimate Fitness in Philadelphia. Her column appears Wednesdays.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/living/20140115_Men_and_women_the_same__Tell_it_to_the_marines.html#QgAS8LurcfYmxgoI.99
Blame the Joint Chiefs of Staff for this fiasco. This previously respected council of warriors thirty years ago would have nixed this political nonsense. However the Joint Chiefs today are a collection of scheming pole climbing careerists and the office has devolved into just another politically correct Federal bureaucracy.
Leon Panetta is to blame.
the issue is this: women want to be able to make good money too and combat positions get combat pay
If these feminist want equality in the Military, then they should have to sign up for the draft just like our sons do. They and the libs put their noses under the camel’s tent. Now live with the stupid thing you wanted. I hope some 18 year old male and his family files a class action lawsuit to force them to register for the DRAFT!
There are just some jobs only MEN can do oh, so much better.
“A force for good” barf
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“Blame the Joint Chiefs of Staff for this fiasco.”
Sure, the JCS should be blamed. They should have resigned in protest. But, Obama should have replaced them with people who would do as he directed. So, nothing would have changed the outcome. The real culprits are those who voted for Obama and Democrat Senators and Congressmen. Fortunately, very few women will want to put up with “Grunt Life” even if they should pass the physical test. So, hopefully, this experiment will die in the vine.
Obama is using the military as a testing ground for social experimentation.
This about the communists getting their loyal people into combat arm to be used against us. Anyone can fire a gun and that is all the communists need.
The People’s Liberation Army of USSA.
“Combat pay” and the resulting promotion potential is not the issue, so much as the objective is to dilute down and destroy the effectiveness of our armed forces.
There is no glamour in the trenches, it is a grinding, relentless drain on the sensibilities and capabilities, which tends to dehumanize the individuals that are exposed for an overly long period.
This extended social experimentation in trying to reverse the traditional roles of the genders, while an interesting study in perverse incentives and inappropriate rewards, is doomed to failure in actual practice.
Sophism is the language of the land. Any attempt to interject common sense into a discussion with anyone speaking it is likely to get a personal insult for their trouble.
I happen to agree with you
You may be somewhat correct.
However, today when one of the CinC's political operatives gets on the phone and says the Boss would like you to consider quickly making such and such a part of your program, there are two choices: proceed or resign. Many of those that do not resign are not quitters, but believe they have a duty to the troops.
That is a very valid point
Equality should MEAN actual equality.
Demanding, or even accepting, different standards of qualification for female personnel than those required for male personnel is a defacto admission that they are not equal and therefore are not eligible to be treated equally.
on the nose
Agreed! And, visa versa, AND, LOL, that confession comes from a lifetime male chauvinist who, along the way had a beautiful and successful daughter who, by the way, totally agrees with you.
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