Hertog War Studies Personal Statement

My oral history project is based off of the book "Ashley's War" by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. This book brought to my attention that women in the military, though underappreciated, have played a colossal role in the removal of the ban on women in combat positions.

A researcher and writer of women in security roles, published author and lecturer at the University of Sydney. Dr. Megan H Mackenzie, wrote “Let Women Fight,” published in 2012 in Foreign Affairs. Mackenzie argues that despite popular belief in the United States women can indeed serve in combat roles next to men. Mackenzie begins by addressing some issues she has with the proponents citing research and statistics, while also appealing to ethos and logos. The tone that Mackenzie uses as well as the credible sources and appeals to the audience led me to believe the persuasive elements.

In the years after the Second World War, people created uncountable numbers of historiographical research on various topics related to the war, such as military tactics in battles, individual groups of men during their time in service, and other such subjects. Not much surprise exists then, that women’s actions in World War II eventually would also gain interest and publication for the public, though it did not gain an undivided focus until the advent of women’s and social history grew momentum. Women, despite being half of the world’s population, doubtlessly had acted during the war years, although limited by social gender expectations of the period. As time passes from 1945, more interest in the lives of women and their effect on the war

A student reaching the end of their public funded education thinks about the possibilities. Should they go to university, stay at home and work at a local job, learn a trade, or possibly join the Peace Corp? They contemplate the matter. They consider the advantages and disadvantages. They listen to the council of others. Then they decide and make their plan. It is now the time for action. The applications, interviews and the rest of the work must be done. When a war is waged, a law passed or anything else of importance is done, there are two steps: thought and action. Without these nothing would be done.

Throughout world history, there have been countless numbers of war that each occurred under very different circumstances for the countries participating. However, each war commonly took the lives of millions, breaking apart families and destroying cities. The 1900’s was a very unique time period because of the dramatic changes in warfare. New weapons were gradually introduced that increased the amount of damage that could be done with each addition. Over time cannons were replaced by machine guns and eventually nuclear weapons were experimented with. As stronger weapons were introduced, death tolls increased drastically. From the years 1910 to 1990, women across the globe passionately took stands not only against war, but against the extremities of the nuclear arms race.

Women have played an instrumental role in every American conflict from the Revolutionary War to today complex battlefields. A major turning point for women’s rights was the establishment of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. WAAC soldiers fought to gain legitimacy within the military and overcome social biases. Their professionalism and determination paved the way forward for women’s integration into one all military branches. The best way to illustrate women’s integration is to start back in colonial times.

Throughout the history of the United States, women have played vital roles in war efforts. This holds especially true in wars such as the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Women played vital roles up front in the field, and as well as behind enemy lines. No matter what role these women took on, their lives and those after were forever impacted.

Women in the Armed Force have come a long way from their small involvement in 1775 during The American Revolutionary War. The American Revolutionary War was the first time American women played a role in the military. Women in this time were only allowed to serve in the battlefield as water bearers, nurses, cooks, saboteurs and laundresses. In 1861 The United States broke out into a civil war over the abolishing of slavery, this particular war plays a major importance in the women’s military history. This war plays a major importance because it shows that women still served in war despite not actually being a part of The Army.

Cynthia Enloe’s book titled Nimo’s War, Emma’s War: Making Feminist Sense of the Iraq War allows readers to enter the lives of eight women; four American and four Iraqi, in order to better understand the everyday lives of people, their struggles, and the outcomes of war by using particular stories of women to bring together issues present globally. Enloe wrote this book to analyze war from a feminist perspective. Analyzing war through a feminist lens by way of stories makes understanding the war more accessible for wider audiences (Enloe 2010:xii and 218). The use of stories allows for a better understanding of women in both countries and shows that there is no one group of women, whether that be American or Iraqi, there is no monolithic Muslim women or American women (Enloe 2010:xii). In doing so, Enloe (2010) allows for readers of all backgrounds to critically question the gendered aspects of war including the histories, feelings, struggles, and the ways in which women organize and resist war waging (p. xii). Enloe (2010) in both her purpose for writing this book and in the title, does not focus on one group of women which allows for a more serious and balanced engagement with the women in both countries. Enloe connects stories of women from two countries while at war. When women are taken seriously in all of their diversity, and their ideas and actions are explored, the world will better understand how upholding certain forms of masculinity at particular moments in time

Throughout the history of mankind there has always been a debate regarding the equality between men and women. A more specific detail in this argument is the conflict of women should be on the front line of battlefield. This topic is significant congress is currently passing legislation on whether women can serve on the front lines of combat. It is also significant because the army rangers has opened its camp to women for the first time in early 2015. This essay will argue the point that women should not be allowed on the front line of combat but allowed in the military. In order to argue this point this essay will demonstrate how the role of women changed in combat over the past 100 years. It will also show what the differences are between

And that'll be known as a translator , being a translator is incredible because it feels great to help other and know that you have that ability to speak more than one language. And I'll be more than happy to try to learn another language because that's going to help me have a better opportunity of receiving a great job. I'm also hoping that I can travel around

One of the most important roles that women played, were the increasing large amount of female soldiers fighting in the war. These roles gave women the right to work and serve in armed forces. The jobs that women took part in during this time period made a huge difference in the war, and in turn, WW2 helped expand women’s

War is inevitable because of opposing views and conflicting opinions. During these hard times, women, although rarely recognized, played a big part in the success of our country. They made their mark during World War Two when they took over the jobs of men and proved they are just as efficient in the workplace. There has been a dramatic change since then. Women have found their identity through these hardships; which in return, has set the pace for the years to come and narrowed the gap of the social norm of women in the work place.

One study (Binkin & Bach) found that many NATO and several WARSAW PACT countries employed women in combat roles during World War II. Russia was reported as using military women on the front lines. In Israel, where they are actually conscripted, women have also experienced armed combat. (Binkin & Bach) found that in the first phase of Israel’s war of Liberation, one out of every five soldiers was female and they shared equality in both offensive and defensive battle situations. Holm found that some 7,500 military women served in S.E. Asia during the Vietnam War. She maintains that these women proved the modern American military woman is fully capable of functioning effectively in a military role in a combat environment, even under direct hostile fire.

Through this written piece of work, I want to examine the ways in which the dominant ideas of gender and war, from a Feminist perspective. I will be contributing an understanding to the role of the Kurdish female fighters in the field of war and politics, that have broken the taboos of gender roles within the community, and the national movement. The concept of gender, war, and conflict has lightened the issue of women in war. The image of war is associated to masculinity, and in many cases women are not welcomes in the field of war, as “she is exposed as a victim of war by drawing the idea of women being helpless (Sjoberg, 2014, p. 10).” Laura Sjoberg; Gender, War, and Conflict, states that “war-making and war-fighting have been traditionally