As equal rights movements have made great progress in recent years, bridging the gender gap in employment has always been a topic of interest. It is argued that everyone should be given an equivalent job opportunity, irrespective of their gender identity, even in areas such as police force or military force, whereas others, who state that women lack the capability of working in such fields, oppose. While both statements can be justifiable to some extent, I personally lean toward the former.
On the one hand, there are many compelling reasons advocating the issues of underrepresentation. The notion of gender disparities in the workforce today can be traced back to society’s stereotype about sex. When it comes to personal traits, men are believed to have superior physique and a more rational and assertive mindset, which are crucial qualities for facing police’s and the military’s austere and difficult conditions in the field; meanwhile, their female counterparts, associated with the image of tender homemaker and fraile housewife, are deemed to be ill-fitting for the job. This is further reinforced by the barriers that keep women from pursuing military service, most notably, that it remains very hard to have a family while in military service, and this is true even more for women than men given the realities of biology. It will not always be realistic for women in particular to maintain continuity of service through their childbearing years.
On the other hand, social norms and social structure have changed throughout the recent years. With both genders having equal access to education, nutritional diet and training fitness, it has become normal for women to gain social status and pursue career opportunities the same as men. When the glass ceiling has shattered, today’s military is much more integrated along gender lines than at any time in the past. women are no less suited to braving such austere conditions and have proved that in combat; therefore, they are no longer excluded from any type of combat mission: They are pilots and vehicle drivers and mechanics and infantry officers, even achieving senior ranks of the military.