Traditionally, military combat has been restricted to men, but in 2013, the Pentagon lifted its prohibition on women in combat in the United States military. This gave women expanded access to career opportunities in the military, which could be seen as a win for the feminist movement, which seeks equality for women. Feminists have been long concerned with providing women with access to the same opportunities as men. However, historically, many feminists have also criticized war for exemplifying patriarchal ideals that glorify dominance. For example, the English author Virginia Woolf wrote:
[T]hough many instincts are held more or less in common by both sexes, to fight has always been the man’s habit, not the woman’s. Law and practice have developed that difference, whether innate or accidental. Scarcely a human being in the course of history has fallen to a woman’s rifle; the vast majority of birds and beasts have been killed by you, not by us …[1]
The history of war and combat is overwhelmingly male, but even before the combat prohibition was lifted, women were already fighting in war. Tens of thousands of women helped fight in Iraq and Afghanistan as medics, military police, and intelligence officers. While these women were technically banned from combat on the ground, they would often find themselves on the front lines.[2]
Questions
Would feminist ethics endorse the military policy to allow women to fight in combat? Why or why not?
Would an ethics of care endorse the military policy to allow women to fight in combat? Why or why not?
This case comes from Russ Shafer-Landau’s A Concise Introduction to Ethics, (Oxford University Press, 2020), pp. 182-183.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-feminist-objection-to-women-in-combat/272505/
[2] https://jezebel.com/5978607/women-have-been-in-combat-all-along