Sunday, August 21, 2011

Girls with Guns: Women and the Draft


When was the last time you heard about the draft?  Read anything in the paper about it?  Heard anything on news stations?  Know someone who was forced into serving the US through military duty?  No?  Well, me neither.  Yet, I still hear people talking about it.  Not very often, but when it comes up, it's a big deal. 

Until tonight at work, I can't remember the last time someone mentioned the draft, specifically women and the draft.  It all started when a female coworker with a "boy's name" started ranting about her eventful day.  She got a letter demanding that she register for the draft.  After much worrying and some calls, she finally figured out the letter was a mistake.  Apparently, her name was mistaken for a man's name, which resulted in a letter demanding that (s)he register for the draft.

After figuring out that it was a mistake (duh), she happily shared her views on the draft.  She complained that women are too weak and delicate to be in the military, despite the fact that she is one of the strongest employees there.  She continued to say that women need to stay home and raise kids (forget the fact that she is single and has no plans of having children anytime soon).  Then, she reminded us that women don't have the will to be crazy military killers (which, in turn, means men ARE crazy killers who don't mind shooting whoever they are told to shoot).  The two men who were there agreed with her.  They were even pretty passionate about it.  They wanted us to know that they were the strong ones who needed to do the killing to keep our country "safe" while the women folk remain at home raising babies and keeping the house clean for the men's return.  The one woman coworker quietly nodded and said her place would never be the military.  She preferred her quick life, and reminded us that she would be of no help to the military (she is in her 60s, so she was kinda right about that...)

That was probably the most random discuss I've heard about the draft.  Usually, I hear it when angry men and anti-feminists try to find something that is a benefit to women while being a disadvantage to men.  Now, I am a pacifist when it comes to unnecessary wars, like most of the wars we've had since WWII, but if there is going to be a draft or the possibility of a draft, it should include both men and women.  And here's why...

Excluding Women is Insulting.  Yes, you heard me.  Other women and myself are insulted that we are seen as weak and useless.  Our only value does not lie in our ability to keep a clean house, raise children. cook, and clean.  We can shoot shit, handle tough workouts, wear ugly uniforms, and even kill crazy evil dictators.  But are we given the chance?  Not really.  Why?  Well of course it is because we need to be protected.  We are too weak to handle all that difficult combat.  We are too loving and nurturing to kill anything.  We cannot survive without our makeup and girly wardrobes.  Should I go on, or are all of you insulted enough already?

Bad Ass
Women are Fucking Bad Asses.  Yeah, we fucking are.  We can do just as much, if not more, than men.  Women already participate in 93% of military positions, and many women are in high ranking positions as well. If "weaker" women work out, they can be strong enough to handle military jobs and anything else men do.  Not to mention, many women are already built with muscle.  And if they are not strong enough, there's a little thing called boot camp where all the strong men go to become strong men.  Besides, the women softball players can use their pitching skills to throw grenades!  The women with "attitude problems" and "pms" can take out their bad moods on their targets!  Now on a more serious note, I have a male cousin in the Marines and a track/tennis star high school sister.  Even to this day, my little sister can outrun and out throw my "tough, strong" Marines cousin.  She can also out bike him, beat him in tennis, and kick his ass in basketball.  What makes this even better is she is a huge girly girl.  She does all these things while wearing her makeup and Victoria's Secret goodies.  My point: Women can kick ass just as much, even more, than men.

Women Don't Need Protected.  One of the most common reasons used to support no women in the draft is rape.  It is a valid concern, but a woman doesn't need to be in the military to be raped.  That sick violating event can occur in her own house.  And if there is such a concern that men will rape the women, isn't that suggesting there is something seriously wrong with our military service men?  This is an interesting argument since no one seems to care about rape any other time.  When the topic comes up, the responsibility of avoiding rape is put on the woman.  Don't dress "slutty"!  Don't go out at night!  Don't drink!  Don't have casual sex!  Well, if those are the things that cause rape, what is the excuse for rape in the military when there is no alcohol and everyone is in god awful
modest uniforms?  Plus, no one mentions the fact that men can rape other men.  Maybe men should get out of the army to protect themselves, too.  Oh wait, that won't work...

It's Fucking Unfair to Men.  Though there has not been a mandatory draft for a few decades, men between 18 to 25 are still required to sign up for the draft.  If they avoid doing this, they can be punished with up to 5 years in prison or a $250,000 fine.  The responsibility of defending the country (or abusing our country's power to exploit other countries) lies with the State's men.  Since women have proven that they can work in the military, why can't the draft include a percentage of women?  It would take part of the burden off the men, and even the playing field.  Even if the stereotype of weak women persists, women could be placed in other positions other than active combat of they truly are not prepared for fighting.  Most military members sit around playing Xbox til they are needed, and once they are needed, they just have to pull a trigger.  Of course, there are many military members who do far more, but with our technology, being in the service is far easier than it was even a few decades ago (especially for the members who have desk jobs or tech jobs, then return home and act like war heroes).

Equality in the Military = Equality in the Work Place... Maybe.  One ideal outcome of women being included in the draft is the elimination, or at least a decrease, of the weak woman stereotype.  By including women, this shows that women really are equal to men.  They are just as tough, just as tough, just as intelligent as the males.  I mean who could talk down to a female war hero?

While the possibility of being drafted really sucks, I would still like to see women included in it.  Angry anti-feminists could finally shut up about the only inequality they can find, while the strong women can prove they are more than capable of serving. 

On last thing... draft or no draft, is it really necessary that female military uniforms include high heals?  Really?  Our lady parts won't shrivel up if we wear flat, comfortable shoes...
Final thought.. check out this site about women in the military throughout history, presently, and into the future!

So what do you think?  Should women be included in the draft?  Should an equal amount of women be drafted?  Would any of you women readers fight for the possibility of a female draft while knowing you might be drafted?  Post your thoughts!

Monday, August 15, 2011

List of Demands

Feminists are well known as "bitchy, complaining, angry" women who are always demanding things. Once we get what we want, we find other things to bitch about. Famous example: Women got the right to vote, but they couldn't stop there; they continued to complain about being stuck as domestic house wives, then they found a whole list of other things to complain about. Obviously, I do not share this view. Feminists believe in all sorts of equality, not in meaningless complaining. Feminists get angry often, and it is fully justified since any form of oppression deserves some ranting followed by change. But this is a popular view that many men and women still have today.

Keeping with this view of feminist women, I will now bitch about a list of things that I both demand and deserve! Here it goes...
  • I deserve to walk down the street at anytime with my partner. When we're out, we will not be yelled at, given dirty looks, harassed. Solution: We wear bags over our heads and dress in androgynous clothing so we are not seen as a same sex couple.
  • I deserve to feel safe while walking around at night. Solution: A) Don't go out at night. B) Dress like a super hero so people know not to fuck with me and my super powers.
  • I deserve to not be gay bashed or harassed because of my sexuality. Solution: A) Become rich and famous so I can hire body guards to protect me. B) Get super buff from working out, or get bit by a radio active spider so I can acquire super strength and beat up harassers.
  • I deserve to feel completely safe while not having to worry about sexual harassment. Solution: Become best friends with Hot Head Paison.
  • I deserve to be paid as much as a man for any job. Solution: Pretend to be a man by packing, wearing men's clothing, and using my hair clippings as facial hair.
  • I deserve to face no discrimination when trying to be hired or while trying to advance my career. Solution: A) Perform sexual favors for the male boss. B) Don't try to get promoted.
  • I deserve to be hired because of my abilities, not because of my race, class, or hot looks. Solution: Only do phone interviews.
  • I deserve to not worry about getting fired or denied a job or housing because of my sexuality. Solution: A) Act straight/ Become straight. B) Rob a bank so I can live off that money and build a house of my own.
  • I deserve my shortcomings and failures to be attributed to things other than my biological sex. Solution: A) Never fail at anything. B) Get a sex change and never let anyone know about my original biological sex.
  • I deserve to be in a bad mood once in a while and not have it be accredited to pms or my biological sex. Solution: Never be in a bad mood even when oppression of sex, gender, race, sexuality, class, etc piss me off and keep me in an angry mood.

So... How 'bout those solutions? Guess I should stop complaining and do these things so I can enjoy all the privileges of men and heterosexuals.

What do all these "solutions" have in common? For starters, they're kinda impossible. That's pretty obvious. I cannot stay inside all the time. I cannot change my sexuality. I cannot hire body guards to protect me from crazy harassers. The other thing these "solutions" have in common is they all involve hiding true self identity. Why should I or anyone else have to pretend to be someone else in order to enjoy privileges. Privileges like marriage, getting/keeping a job, feeling safe, not being judged or threatened with hell fire.

No one should be forced to hide who they are for any reason.

So for all those anti-feminists out there, take these demands and get working on them. All us feminists and gays will be happy to help you get started.


Friday, August 12, 2011

We Want YOU to Contribute!

Feminists and friends, we here at Borderlands want YOU! Yes, YOU! To join and contribute to the awesomeness that is feminism. Send us a question, a topic, photos, your own posts, anything, and it could appear on the blog. Here is your chance to be famous! Come on... You know you want to!



Thursday, August 11, 2011

Borderlands: The Beginning


Welcome to Borderlands, the place where we explore the intersections of sex, gender, race, and class; where we rant about oppression; where we get empowered and encouraged to do something about it! Here at Borderlands we don't limit ourselves to one type of oppression or injustice. Why, you might ask. Why not focus on sexism? Homophobia? Racism? Classism? All these things, and more, intersect to form the outcome of experiences. And since many people have some connection to a marked identity, it is only fitting that we take a critical look at how this functions in our everyday lives. Here, we can explore the borders created where our privilege and oppression meet.

Now that you have an idea of what we're all about here at Borderlands, I'll catch you up on some things to look forward to. This blog seeks to combine critical, academic feminist and queer thought with a more everyday, casual tone. We'll look at why feminism is still needed; why the LGBT movement is important and how it is connected to feminism; everyday examples of oppression that are typically over looked. But we aren't going to just sit around, read, and rant. Well, we'll do some of that. But more importantly, we'll set you fabulous readers up with simple ways to apply your feminist ways to everyday life. Plus, we want to hear from YOU, the reader! We want you to send in pictures, articles, anything that captures oppression or feminism! As a weekly bonus, we want to get some questions from YOU readers, too! Send in your questions about anything! Fun things, feminist things, LGBT things, silly things, politics, everything! And comment! Comment on everything!


Okay readers... Go forth and spread the gospel of feminism! And while you're out and about, don't forget to send us your questions, thoughts, comments, pictures, or whatever to us at bortmas.2@osu.edu