I don't know how to write about this issue without first saying that I hate the military, I don't support the war in Iraq at all, and the US government allowing women and people of color to advance in the military is strategic(ally fucked) and not in *any* way indicative of an actual commitment on behalf of our leading patriarchs to advance the peoples. But these women claim to still be facing obstacles as they are clearly performing well (in gunning down Iraqis) but still not advancing in their positions.
See the military isn't any good for anything.
Despite the dangers, a growing number of women have chosen the job since the 1990s, and today about 9 percent of women in the Army are aviators.While proving their competence in the air, female aviators say they still face obstacles from the predominantly male military on the ground.
"It's far better than when my mother was in the military, but we still have a long ways to go," said Strye, whose mother was an Army nurse in Vietnam.
And even as the 360-degree battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan are exposing women to combat as never before, policies excluding women from ground combat units have not been eased, but instead face increased scrutiny in Congress.
Okay within this system, this is an inequity. But where are we going with this? I am so distracted by the fact that this war/country/system is so fucked, I am just not that suprised that although women are totally (more than) competant at gunning down A-rabs, they may not make it to the higher ranks.
I don't know why I even tried to write about this, sorry for my pessimism.
via WaPo.
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The obstacles aren't just barriers to female aviators advancement in military responsibility - but the best route to a well paying, respected airline job is through military experience, so obstacles to advancement in military aviation also effect women's opportunities in the private sector.
Though your pessism about current military action in the Middle East is well-founded, let's separate our misdirected foreign policy from the roles and responsibilities of many members of our armed forces -- the aviator's role extends well beyond just "gunning down" Iraqis -- military aviators fly search and rescue missions, medivac, cargo and personnel transport for relief efforts (many of them joint international aid efforts, which we all think are too few and far between) -- these efforts undo some of the damage that we have done abroad, and offers relief to the greater damage caused by brutal regimes.