Rosie the Riveter

I love Rosie the Riveter.  She's an awesome famous depiction of a strong woman working with her hands and openly stepping out of her gender role.  Rosie is a depiction of the amazing women who stepped up to fill factory jobs during WWII.  They did work that was typically done by men.  They made ammunition and war supplies and served our country from home.  They were awesome and kick ass.  But when the war was over and our soldiers came home, they were expected to quit and go back home.  Some of them didn't and that was an awesome step for feminism.  Those women are definitely feminist icons.  But they are only the beginning of women's contributions to our national defense.

Today I went to a presentation by a fellow law school student and friend of mine.  She is active duty (army) and has served our country overseas.  She's amazing.   She is also a feminist icon, whether she knows it or not.  She was giving a presentation on the effects of DOMA on a post DADT military.  It was really good and interesting.  If anyone is interested I would be happy to send out her powerpoint to you, just let me know. During her presentation she made a sort of side comment about the recent repeal of the combat exclusion of women.  It got me thinking.

I fully support including women in every facet of our military.  The combat exclusion of women was stupid.  It kept women from jobs that they wanted and were qualified for based only on their gender.  Its repeal was a great feminist victory.  Our country has finally officially recognized that women are just as capable of contributing to our national defense as men and that we are capable of doing so in the same ways.  This is great! Wonderful! Fantastic!  

There's still one problem: the draft.  Women now have access to any position in the military (that they qualify for) should they choose to join.  But we can't be drafted.  Now granted, we haven't used the draft in a very long time.  And I'm glad about that.  But young men still have to register for it.  They are still subject to it.  We have a system that requires all American men to sign up for this lottery system that could be used to send them to war and possibly death.  But women, we don't have to sign up for this.  Why?  Because we are women.  Isn't this what feminist are always screaming about?  Distinctions made along gender lines with regard to issues that have nothing to do with gender?  Our federal government, by repealing the combat exclusion of women, has made it clear that when it comes to the ability to fight and serve our country gender is irrelevant.  So why are we still discriminating based on gender?  It is unacceptable.  Drafting men but not women tells the men of our country that their lives are worth less than mine just because they are men.  That is not a message I'm okay with.  The men I love, my dad, cousins, boyfriend, and friends, do not deserve to have the value of their lives discounted.  It's been a long road.  We've come a long way since Rosie but we're not at the end of the journey yet.  To achieve complete gender equality in the US military we need to include women in the draft.