Women in the United States Military: A Contemporary Perspective.

Abstract : A contemporary analysis of women in the armed forces of the United States is presented. Recent, dramatic changes affecting women in the U.S. military have moved women into an integral role in the armed forces which is unprecedented in historical or modern times. Pragmatic reasons dictate that there is likely to be increasing pressure to expand the presence of women in the U.S. military even further. Existing combat exclusionary laws and policies which presently restrict women from serving in combat roles should therefore be repealed. Although strongly-held attitudes against the idea of women in combat persist, a thorough review of the tests and experiments which have been conducted concerning women in the military and an analysis of the traditional arguments against women serving in combat conclude that there exists no persuasive evidence to suggest that women will not perform effectively when allowed to serve in combat roles. (Author)