Are women treated equal in the military?

Question

This is probably going to send a flak my way, but it's a genuine question. Look at the following charts on the inequality of physical fitness between men and women in the military:
http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/apa/rc/apft.htm
http://www.af.mil/news/USAF_Fitness_Charts.pdf
http://tkdtutor.com/11Training/NavyPRT/NavyPRTstandards.htm

I believe in equality for women, but according to that they're not equal they get paid the same as a male servicemember but testing on an easier level.

Again, I would like to apologize to the women who are going to call me a chauvinist pig, I swear this is an honest to God, genuine question I don't know the answer to.
(I HATE trying to be political correct)
Also, this is not a question of competency, there are women I've met in the military that make me look like a shitbag, merely a question on the minimum testing everyone in the military must go through.

I have a job that's "in the rear with the gear" I used to ask, "why do I have to be in shape. The answer I thought was acceptable was that EVERY member of the military is expected to kill the enemy when need be, carry a fallen comrade when need be, and be able to advance to the rear as quickly as possible. Wouldn't you agree that easier standards for anyone; male/female/black/white/Cuban/Asian/tall/small/ugly/good looking mitigates this reason.

Answer 1

Unfortunately the answer is no. It's not just the physical fitness test, it's what is expected from a male compared to a female.

A male drops out of a hump and he has 4-5 Sgts on his butt, a female drops out, and she gets into the back of a hummer. As a GySgt, I made it a point to have the same expectations of my Females as I did my Males, but the cold hard facts are that this is not a common practice.

With that being said, females still do a terrific job in the Marines and certainly are entitled to serve their country in this capacity, but if anyone believes that they are equal or even that it is fair are seriously mistaken.

Answer 2

Yes and no.

This is a complicated (but reasonable) question with an equally reasonable answer.

Yes, Woman are held to a different(lower) physical standard than men, but the reason for this is the when a woman is at her peak physical performance, she STILL won't be able to physically out-perform a man.

The purpose of the Physical Training standards of the military are to ensure that everyone is at their peak performance, which is why the standards ALSO change (lower) with AGE as well.

Having said that, it's also best to keep in mind that women are not permitted to take combat jobs. Why? Because they can't always meet the same physical demands as men can that these jobs require.
Seems fair enough to me. It's not biased... it's just realistic.

But how much weight a woman can carry, how many push-ups she can do, and how fast she can run 2 miles won't effect her ability to start an IV or to file paperwork, which is why standards are different and women are given non-combat jobs.

The purpose of the gender standards and requirements is to make sure service members are doing their best, so that their job will be performed well.


Though I DO agree with you that the standards for women are lower than they should be... the reality is that the military NEEDS females to help meet their quotas and fill their ranks, and if they made the standards higher for jobs that don't technically NEED a person to be in amazing physically shape, women would just stop enlisting and our military would be in a world of hurt.

Not really fair, but it's reality.


(If you REALLY want to talk about gender inequality... let's talk about GROOMING standards. You should see some of the rediculous/huge hairstyles in red/purple/etc. colors that women wear under their caps and GET AWAY WITH, whereas the men have to keep their hair modest and plain in color and completely neat and faded and off the ears at all times or their butts get fried. Now THAT'S crap)

Answer 3

No. Female command pilots are encouraged to refer to the flight deck of their aircraft as the "box office" instead of the "cockpit". This is a sure sign that discrimination is rampant in the armed forces and must be adressed via constitutional ammendment ASAP.

Answer 4

We used to have a joke in the Marine Corps; what's the difference between a WM (woman marine) and a zebra?

A zebra doesn't lay on its back to get its stripes.