Article from The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-feminist-objection-to-women-in-combat/272505/

On January 24, the US government announced that they will lift a ban on women serving in combat positions. This announcement received widespread media attention and has gotten mixed responses by both political parties and sexes. For the most part, feminists (myself included) and much of the population saw the decision as an entirely positive step forward for women, gender equality and our country. However, there has also been severe backlash against it which I will not discuss in this post (here is an interesting article about the reasons why a women shouldn’t be allowed in combat; I almost posted about this, but will let you analyze how it reinforces female gender stereotypes, as Harp, Loke and Bachmann discuss in their article about Sarah Palin: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/25/opinion/boykin-women-in-combat/index.html).

At one point in tonight’s conversation, Professor Thompson raised this question to our class: “what is feminism?” The classroom remained silent, with the majority of us contemplating a concept that we had most likely never defined out loud but simply held as an internalized concept. One student replied that it is the struggle for equality between the sexes, and most of us nodded. I too have always felt that this concept was at the base of feminism; feminists are always advocating for complete equality between men and women, right? So it came to my surprise tonight when I found this article in The Atlantic titled “The Feminist Objection to Women in Combat”. In this article, the author discusses how this decision is in fact a victory for women and feminism, but this victory also contradicts certain ideologies and goals of feminism. Although this decision means greater career equality and possibilities between the sexes, the author points out that “one of the male patriarchal values and ideals that has been consistently criticized and questioned by feminists is war”. Therefore, the author discusses the fact that furthering women’s role in war is contradictory to feminist ideology and only strengthens male ideology and concepts. Although I am not yet certain if I agree with her, I feel the author is bringing up a valid point that women are still engaging in roles and tactics that are based on male ideologies and structures, and by being involved in it, they are furthering the very structure that they are against.

Both this article and the Harp, Loke and Bachmann article analyze the struggles of women entering traditional male careers and roles, and how a woman’s role in negotiated in a male structure. Do you agree with the author that this decision isn't entirely positive for feminism, or do you disagree with the author and see this as a major step forward for feminism?  What could be a definition for feminism if it doesn't strictly encompass equality between the sexes?