Very few women serve in the United States Marines. In fact, of all the military branches of the US, the US marines have the lowest representation of women of about 8 percent of all active marines (Laurence, 2017). The marine corps unit has sidelined women for quite long with policy decisions and gestures that tend to discourage women into service. Women had not been allowed to serve as marine corps until 1948, with several restrictions of serving from various specialties in the United States marine. Gibbons-Neff (2018) presents Lt. Marina A. Hierl, the first woman to ever lead a US marine infantry troop. In as much as the United States law calls for diversity and equality, the United States marine still disfavors women being infantry officers. While others still believe that the marine infantry is a reserve for men, women too deserve a chance. The United States should allow women to serve as Marine corps infantry officers.
The United States Constitution prohibits the discrimination of persons on any grounds, including gender, ethnicity, race, and age. The Equality act of 2019 prescribes a prohibition of gender discrimination, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other factors such as childbirth and pregnancy explicitly. Gender equality is a major part of the UN’s sustainable development goals with various legal provisions of international laws existing to enforce it. Barring women from serving as Marine Corps Infantry officers is a direct violation of the United States law and other International laws against gender bias. For this reason, women ought to be allowed equal chances with men to compete for the Marine Cop Infantry positions.
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The United States Department of Defense recommends the inclusion of women into all responsibilities within the United States military. The Marine Corps has been specifically ordered by the Defense Department to open all career fields in combat arms to women. Despite few women serving as US Marine Corps, they tend to be accorded responsibilities which require less physical engagement and such which are known in the Marine as non-load bearing responsibilities (Shawn, 2018). All the other jobs are a reserve for men, including working as Marine Corps Infantry Officers. The Defense Department speaks on behalf of the United States Federal government. Therefore, the Marine Military department ought to follow its directive and allow women Marine Corps the opportunity to serve as Infantry Officers.
It is quite good how well the Marine Corps Unit has worked to boost fitness results for female marines. The major barrier that has stood between women and marine infantry jobs is the extreme physical training that one must go through before being eligible for such jobs. Most women either do not make it complete the training by opting out or never makes an attempt to enter the training. The new training routine introduced in the United States Marine makes a difference for women’s physical fitness and increases their chances of engaging successfully in severe physical training. With the advanced training, women should, therefore, be allowed the opportunity to serve as Marine Corps Infantry Officers.
Unfortunately, there are people who hold the opinion that women should not serve as Marine Corps Infantry Officers. People of this school of thought assert that women should not be subjected to intense military training because of the weak muscle tissues. Apart from that, women have various responsibilities, including childbirth and pregnancy, that would compromise missions if they are Infantry officers.
Gender discrimination does not have a place in the 21st Century. Besides, the US defense department recommends all-gender inclusion in military roles and even implements training strategies to favor women serving as Infantry officers. Therefore, nothing should make women be denied the chance to serve in these positions.
References
Gibbons-Neff, T. (2018, August 9). The Marines Didn’t Think Women Belonged in the Infantry. She’s Proving Them Wrong. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/us/politics/marines-women-combat-platoon.html
Laurence, J. H. (2017). Women and the US Military. Inclusion in the American Military: A Force for Diversity. London: Lexington , 111-112.
Shawn, S. (2018, March 5). Where are Female Marines . Retrieved from Marine Times: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2018/03/05/where-are-the-female-marines/
