Re: [semi OT] Women wargamers -longish

Los spake thusly upon matters weighty: 

> My beliefs are:
> 
> 1. Females that meet a single standard are more than capable of being
in
> combat arms. (hell, I think my wife would make a great grunt!)

Agreed. That's why the Canadian army officially* has only one 
standard. The entire first course of women washed out. Some have 
subsequently passed. Their theory is combat requires the same from 
anyone, sex is irrelevant. Now you are only barred from serving in 
submarines. 
 
> 2. Most of the problems a rising from females in the military have to
do
> more with us men, and the double fitness standard imposed by the Army.

True. The double standard is a BAD idea. Plus lots of guys get stupid 
around women (my theory is that many military personel are poorly 
equipped to deal with the opposite sex due to unusual socializations 
that occur in training and afterward in military life). And some 
people are assinine to begin with. 
 
> 3. That being said, we're not ready yet for full integration in combat
> arms. If it screws up small unit cohesion then I'm against it. And
like
> it or not, when you interject women into the archaic all male world of
a
> combat arms unit, (where sexual innuendoes and humor make up 90% of
the
> banter)  the first priority of the guys usually becomes getting laid.

As an aside though, one has to start somewhere, and accept that the 
process of integration and modernizing male attitudes will involve 
incidents and accidents. 

> Make one standard for everyone and then have at it!

Here Here! 
 
> Just to recap I do not fall into the category that females can't hack
> it, (due to some perceived inferiority), an attitude which pisses me
off
> greatly.

There were a few ladies in my infantry basic that couldn't hack it, 
but then so couldn't a lot of guys. I have to admit I was marginal 
(probably due to running part - the rest I excelled at). The women 
didn't like being babied either because it got them a bad rep, but 
otherwise it tended to get everyone extra PT mostly on their account. 
Slow man in the squad is always the reason the squad suffers in 
training and is usually not well received by the team. You pull your 
weight in the infantry or you get out. That's the only fair way to 
play it. Double standards lead to bitterness, nasty behind-the-back 
comments, and crappy treatment. It isn't good for the team. 

OTOH, I've met women cops and martial artists who could more than 
hack the physical components of military life (I'm sure) and could 
kick the arse of most guys. 

As another interesting aside, when the CF shifted from the 7.62 FN to 
the 5.56 C7 rifle, women's shooting scores skyrocketed (beating many 
guys). Theory is that women are inherently more accurate, but with 
too much recoil, they had trouble controlling the weapon. With too 
much weapon weight (and the FN was too much) they had troubles in the 
standing and the kneeling positions due to the need to hold the heavy 
rifle up. The lighter, lower recoil (but still deadly to all useful 
ranges) C7 removed this impediment, and many of the women shot better 
scores than the guys. 

>  I fall into the category that men aren't ready for it yet.

We're slow learners. But we've go to learn sometime, and that might 
mean starting to force the issue a bit. It takes a long tme to 
equalize balance in a society that has traditionally been parochial 
and patriarchal. We're still having race problems and that has been 
equalizing since the last century....

Tom. 

 
/************************************************
Thomas Barclay		     
Voice: (613) 831-2018 x 4009
Fax: (613) 831-8255

 "C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot.  C++ makes
 it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg."
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