War is no place for women. There is too much violence and terror. Women should be protected and stay at home where it is safe, patiently waiting for men to return while taking care of the children. Except… “at home”, they are left to be raped my enemy troops, bombed by enemy planes, expelled from their houses by enemy invaders. Violence and terror are unavoidable, unless war is thousands of kilometres away. In this case, apprehension takes over and women live in constant anxiety. Better to do something. That is why they prepare the defences of the places where they live, they go to work the fields and feed themselves and their children (and also sending supplies to the troops); they replace men in factories (especially of weapons and ammunition); they take care of their husbands’ businesses; they fundraise money to send to the army. Others enlist as nurses, as spies, as members of the resistance, as code breakers, as strategists *.
War is no place for women. John Keegan, an English historian and Professor in the Military Academy, stated that “women (…) do not fight” and that “warfare (…) is an entirely masculine activity”. John Keegan forgot (or was totally unaware) about the many women who disguised themselves as men to go to (probably) all battles that were ever fought. There are some records of this, but many remain hidden in history. John Keegan also forgot (or was totally unaware) about women like Queen Boudicca, who led her people in the fight (and beating) the Romans; the emperor’s consort Lady Fu Hao, who successfully commanded an entire army and conquered many lands; Queen Nzinga Mbande, who fought (and having some success) the Portuguese colonialism; and the university student Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who is still the most accomplished female sniper (having killed 309 Nazis). This is just to name a few **. Men with John Keegan’s mentality have been doing research on history and archaeology, deliberately preventing women from contributing. So, when a DNA test was made on a Viking’s skeleton, who everyone assumed was a male warrior, and it was discovered to be a skeleton of a female warrior no one could believe it. Surprise, surprise.
War is no place for women. Nowadays, there are 11 countries in the world where military service is mandatory for women (as well as for men): Benin, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Israel, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, North Korea, Norway, Sweden, and Tunisia. Denmark will soon be part of this list. Many other countries accept women in their armed forces as volunteers. Thus, today there are many generals, military engineers, commanders of Navy ships, Army troops, and Air Force squadrons, military nurses and military doctors who are women. There are even female snipers and submarine crew female members. This time, all official and duly registered.
War is no place for women. In a conversation with the military historian Margaret MacMillan, the writer Sarah Hall realized that “women’s exclusions from armies and from institutions are commonplace, but they are also excised from historical documentation and artistic representation”. It’s as if women are not allowed to write about war, whether it’s imposed by men or self-imposed. Margaret MacMillan ignored men who were trying to belittle her and wrote many books about war. Born right after World War II, Svetlana Alexievich had heard about war since a little child. War was everywhere, but little was being said about the one million women who fought alongside men in the Soviet Army. Thus, Svetlana Alexievich, as a journalist, decided to write the book “The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II”, a collection of stories directly told by Soviet women who fought in World War II. More recently, a former USA trooper who served in Iraq, Brian Van Reet, chose a woman to be the protagonist of his book “Spoils”, where he describes, in a fictional story, the true horror of the war.
War is no place for women. Our society still sees women as “vulnerable”, “non-violent”, and only going to war as part of the “resistance” or to carry out “auxiliary jobs”. If we look closely, the narrative about women in war is often about how they sacrifice their motherhood, leaving their children behind, and how they stop feeling “feminine” as in becoming cold with their boyfriends or husbands. Or remaining unmarried, the horror. Men also have children and also leave them behind. Men also miss their families. Men also become cold with their girlfriends or wives when they return home due to the terrible things they have witnessed. But men are heroes whereas women are not even mentioned. The job is the same, the horror is the same, the consequences are the same to both men and women. Both men and women have to learn how to kill, learn the tactics of war, learn how to work with each other to avoid dying. The training is the same. But men are seen as more capable than women, regardless of the fact that women have proven over and over again that they are perfectly able to do the same as men. On the other hand, there are also pacifists among men. When military service is mandatory, there are always many men who try to escape it. And, as you read above, when women can’t be accepted, they disguise as men to take the place of those men who are escaping it.
War is no place for women. Yeah, right.
* Watch the documentary “War Gamers” on how a group of women found the way to beat the U-Boot strategy, turning the tables in the Battle of the Atlantic.
** Check the extensive lists of women in ancient warfare, women in warfare (1500–1699), women in 18th-century warfare, women in warfare and the military in the 19th century, women in warfare and the military (1900–1945), women in World War I, women in World War II, women in warfare and the military (1945–1999), and women in warfare and the military (2000–present).
Also…
. Read and watch the video at the end of the page about what happened to British women during the World War I: “12 Things You Didn’t Know About Women In The First World War”
WORDS IN IDEAS 