Women in cammies

The NY Times reports that the exigencies of a six-year war in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in the increasing deployment of women in combat.

This etches cracks in one of the biggest taboos in the country. Both the military and Congress have clung to the double standard that not only demeans women and reinforces the idea that they’re incapable of fulfilling all the obligations of citizenship (therefore relegating them to permanent second-classdom); it prevents the armed forces from tapping into the broader resources of the nation.

Of course, the Navy integrated women into combat missions in 1993. Today women are among the senior pilots of F-14s, the quintessential symbol of machismo on screen and off, and they serve on all manner of ships—including (now) submarines.

But the land and air forces have held back. Although they’ve put women in combat support roles, the distinction being that you go in harm’s way but just aren’t equipped to defend yourself.

Even now, the Army and Marine Corps are using semantics to disguise the fact that they’re sending women to perform combat duties. That’s to spare the sensibilities of Congress, who would much rather rail about protectin’ American womanhood 8000 miles away than providing them with comprehensive and affordable healthcare here.

So it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.