Should women fight on the front line?

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/2bxt9ma

The question that should be asked is, do Women really want to fight on the 'front line', or is it just a cop-out because men could charge the MOD with discrimination against men, (why should men put their lives at risk, but not women?

Because of this new ruling, should Male soldiers now be paid more than female soldiers, due to the increased risks that are involved in by the men?

[Bobbisox]

if they are receiving the same pay and conditions aog I would say , Yes

[rov1200]

Providing they do not have to drive a jeep or armoured vehicle. They might get lost.

[zzxxee]

i dont know where i stand on this to be honest it makes me think in this day and age
what are the reasons women cannot join the royal marines or the sas or the sbs ??
there are obvious reasons the MOD put into place so i think i would have to look at all the reasons behind this before i decide about women fighting on the front line

[anotheoldgit]

This was discussed on 'late night radio'.

One woman rang in to say, no they should not fight on the front line, her excuses: Where would they go to the toilet? they would need special facilities, especially during their monthly cycles.

She then went on to say, what if they had one of their limbs blown off, it would be much worse for them, than a man losing a limb. How would she groom herself? how would she feed her baby? etc, etc, no she went on it would be much harder for a woman.

[ummmm]

I'm sure they have the option to take something to stop their periods.

[chirpychirpy]

If they can still access an iron, a Dyson and some washing-up liquid, I can't see what the problem is

[jackthehat]

If there were combat units made up only of women, I believe that *they* ought to be able to engage in fighting the enemy directly.

I doubt if a woman who hasn't managed to overcome the demands placed monthly upon her body by 'mother nature' would be terribly effective when facing a hostile force.

[andy-hughes]

Should women fight on the front line? No, but then again, neither should men - because there shouldn't be a front line.

[joko]

i am totally opposed to any form of sexism...its something guaranteed to get me fuming...however ...the one concession i do accept is quite simple - men are 'generally' stronger and bigger than women.
that is simply nature - not any form or choice or favouritism or social conditioning - its just a fact...so when a task is based purely on physical strength i accept that men would generally be better at it.

i think unless the woman is highly trained in combat and could generally batter most men then theres no point in being on the front line

she would be a focus for the enemy too, as many would rightly or wrongly see her as an easy target.

she would probably also be more easily physically overcome by enemy and imagine if instead of just killing her, she was captured and exposed to sexual torture?
who knows what could happen and i imagine many of her platoon would be horrified to think what was happening to her and may take foolish risks to save her, as has been mentioned.

in terms of suffering pain, and endurance, id say they could match a man with no problem...its well known that women generally have a higher capacity to deal with pain anyway...

if the women could pass a series of seriously tough tests then perhaps she could fight - however i do also think men should have to pass them too...as men vary in size and ability too
i am no tough guy - i am strong but only 5'2" but i myself kicked the crap out of a guy who tried to attack me once... so i suppose you never know what someone is capable of.

[joko]

well said andy

[wolf63]

I feel that both sexes should be any job that they are capable of doing. I don't think that the MOD feel that women are incapable of doing this job - (not all women (or men) want to do such work) - they should be given the chance to do so.

Alas it is all much more to do with men and their hormones. It seems that we are banned from doing such work due to men possibly being distracted by a 'pretty face'.

As andy says in his post - wars should not happen in our 'civilised' world. If women ran the world..................

Susan

[andy-hughes]

i didn't actually say that Butch - Susan mentioned about women running the world.

[Sqad]

andy
<<<Should women fight on the front line? No, but then again, neither should men - because there shouldn't be a front line.<<<

Quite andy.............but there is.

If a person is trained, qualified, physically fit and in the Armed Forces then they should be expected to fight on the front line if necessary....male OR female and on equal pay.

[123everton]

The Russians,the Chinese and a lot of Asia don't suffer from this sort of squeamishness, and I've never seen any evidence to suggest that they risked their lives to protect their women, but of course they're savage, barbaric, uncivilised barbarians, not like us...
I don't believe a soldier would risk their life unneccessarily for a female colleague.
The qusetions that need to be asked of any woman who wishes to serve on the front line are, are you wiiling to kill for your country, are you willing to die for your countryand are you willing to risk getting raped for your country?
Because upon capture, that's a very likely outcome.

[sp1814]

If a woman wants to fight on the front line, then let her. If she has the bravery and training, I don't see it as a problem.

However - the question would remain...would male soldiers show extra chivalry to a woman in distress?

Dunno...and I don't suppose any of us are in a position to answer that with any certainty.

[whiskeryron]

What about such a woman attaining top level promotion & becoming in command of our forces abroad? We had one woman who was in charge in this country & look what happened -- we used to mine coal, we used to make steel, we used to build ships, we used to build airplanes & cars & what do we have now ? We are a third world country & we have to do as we are told by some clowns in Europe. I know I have now left myself wide open to abuse, so be it, it used to be good to call myself British-- now I wonder.