Bright spot: More women get their chance

A bright spot addendum to yesterday's post about women needing to "man-up a little" - it looks like women will start getting more opportunities to do just that in the near future, at least in the military.

First of all, the first female commander was tapped to take over command of the Marine Corps.'s Parris Island. Brigadier General Loretta E. Reynolds, 46, is a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and is now the head Marine in charge at Parris Island. Here's a link to the profile of Brig. General Reynolds in yesterday's The Washington Post.

On top of that, consider these facts, also from the profile article:

• The Navy now allows women to serve on submarines (which I somehow missed hearing about previously, while also I wonder why they would want such a cramped assignment).
• Last month, the head of the Special Operations Command said he approves of the idea of allowing women to join the Navy SEALs program (enter Demi Moore with her shaved head).
• And, in March, a congressional commission recommended that the ban be lifted on women serving in direct combat units, which would include artillery, infantry, and tank companies (and paired with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," butch female soldiers and soldiers-to-be everywhere swoon with anticipation).

On the last point, it onlys seems logical to repeal the ban on women in combat units, since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have forced female soldiers in support postings to face combat from time-to-time, just to execute their support duties. They've come under fire and returned fire for several years now, so why not open that door all the way?

I remember when I was younger and the country had just entered the first Iraq war, my mother and I discussing the fact that women weren't allowed to be in the infantry (much to my disappointment). I expressed the opinion that the restriction was silly, and that if a female soldier could complete basic training the same as a male soldier, she should be allowed to fight at the front lines like her male counterpart. My mother said it wasn't as simple as being able to complete basic training like a man, it was also that men might have trouble accepting a woman who was missing a limb from an injury attained while serving in combat.

I said then that that was the problem of the man who felt the female soldier was less of a woman just because she was missing an arm. And, I stand by that sentiment today.

--Penn