Women have been accepted into the military ever since the Spanish-American War that started the enlisting of women in the Army Nurse Corps (1901), yet women did not receive permanent military status until Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integrations Act in 1948. Women have also come a long way as far as equal rights to the average man. So, what’s holding them back from being drafted?
Many women are in the military or armed forces and are actively serving the United States. Yet, it is only men who are required to register for the draft. There are around 1,853,690 women veterans today.
Senior Master Sargent Gerald W. Smith of Seminole High School’s ROTC (which helps students who want to join the military) said, “I think only males have to sign up-no female drafting that I know of. If they have a draft and men are gonna do it then women should too, unless they have certain conditions. No reason they shouldn’t be drafted either.”
Women have fought so long and hard for equal rights with men, why should being drafted into the military be any different? Women run companies, serve in the military, and can aspire to be anything they want all because of the fight for equal rights.
Senior Casey Picou thought, “Women should be drafted because people want to be treated equally. If [women] want equal rights [women] should also have equal rights to fight for our country.”
It is clear today that women are freer then they have ever been in the past but are they truly equal to men? If a man has to through with an obligation on whether or not he has to serve the United States, then shouldn’t a woman have to do that too? Women are capable of serving in the military and therefore are capable of being drafted if the country needs it.
Senior Bianca Estrada expressed, “I love the fact that there are women fighting for our country. I love the fact anyone is fighting for our country.”
A man’s name is on the draft until he dies and failure to serve when called on that draft is reason for prison. Women do not have to worry about that now but what if an optional draft was proposed for women?
Sophomore Ashley Spiegel said, “It [women serving in the military] shows that women can do what men can do. I believe in equality. I believe that women should sign up for a draft. It shouldn’t be mandatory but optional.”
Women serve have proven that they can fight right alongside men and that they should be drafted like men, too. Break down another barrier that keeps women and men from being equal by allowing women to be drafted.