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The historical distribution of the gender roles in society explains the fact that warfare has a strongly marked male character. The gender characteristics of the military on the whole and the US Military in particular change according to the internal and external factors. The first one is the structure of the military organizations and the needs the forces face at the definite moment. The external factor includes the changes in the traditional system of views and the character of the gender roles. The number of women in the US Military has been increasing since the 18th century reflecting the historical development of our country.
The increase of the part of women in the military is not steady but concurs with the periods of wars when they could prove the irreplaceability of their skills. The American Revolution (17751783) is the period when the womens presence was trivial for the military for the first time. Besides the traditional female supporting work such as cooking, laundering, and health care, women were fighting side by side with the officers of the Continental Army either included in the regular troops or as the members of the local militia units (Devilbiss, p. 1). Though, the appearance of women in the army was not planned but spontaneous. Despite the fact that women were paid for their work, they were not seen as the full partners in the soldiery.
The 19th century is marked by the breakthrough in womens role in warfare. Having faced the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Spain-American War (1898), the military lacked the medical personnel. The medically trained women were in great demand, and they have laid the foundation of the nursery, the most influential female class in the US Military (Devilbiss, p. 2). Together with the health care women continued performing the combat service support functions fulfilling the everyday needs of the military. A significant event occurred during the Civil War: the combat surgeon Mary Walker was awarded the Medal of Honor by Congress. Thus, the professional work of women as nurses was appreciated by the government, and they were offered the contract and the quasi-military status (Devilbiss, p. 2). The nursery appeared to be the first confident step of women on the military field. Nevertheless, with no rank and benefits, the female military element was considered not as the integral component but as the parallel supportive organization of the US Military.
The 20th century is known to be the period of changes in the political and social life of the world. As the logical result of the successful experience, the Army Nurse Corps and the Navy Nurse Corps were established accordingly in 1901 and 1908. In the periods of World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), the US Military faced a personal shortage together with the increase of the needs. These factors are recognized to be the reason for the involvement of women in the non-medical military spheres. Thus, women filled the wide variety of the posts such as draftsmen, fingerprint experts, translators, camouflage designers, telephone operators, and later mechanics, electricians, and drivers in the Navy and Marine Corps and the Air Force (Devilbiss, p. 5). The great achievement of the world wars for women was the concession of the military rank, the status, and the benefits to them. Nevertheless, despite the seeming equality of men and women, there was a restriction in the ranks available and the official number of women in the military. In general, the womens role in the military was still supportive, though, with the widened opportunities and the numerous benefits. Taking everything into account, the first half of the 20th century is the turning point in female military history. In peacetime, women continued performing their military functions and have been spreading their impact inside all the branches of the US Military till nowadays. The evolution of the female military ends up with the equality of the officers of both sexes and the permanent increase of the number of women in the US Military.
On their way to the full military partnership with men, women had to prove their competence. Having started with the Army support, women continued with the nursery and then filled the jobs inside the military structure gradually penetrating into its other branches. As the result, the US Military has more specifically trained citizens capable to defend the country.
Works Cited:
Devilbiss, Margaret Conrad. Women and military service: a history, analysis, and overview of key issues. Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Press, 1990.
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