I’ve discussed the notion of placing women in the infantry before at length. Just for a third time, I support it, and not just because it should increase the combat effectiveness of the army. ( just kidding!)
To be honest, I think that not allowing Marines to roll their sleeves, have sleeve tattoos, or wear silkies will prove far more damaging to my Corps than will allowing women in the grunts. I do think however that this move was made too quickly. The Marines have slowly been sticking their toes in the water on allowing women in. It was bound to happen, but it would have been better to have been phased in, rather than made so abruptly. The army had not been preparing for this though, so perhaps this was the only way it was going to get done in a reasonable time period.
Regardless, there is no need to fear change. You cannot pat yourself on the back for being on the cutting edge of things while simultaneously avoiding it. That is not to say that all change is good, but you must be open to it. The concern of course is that standards are going to be watered down when women are involved. Unfortunately that’s probably true. But then again, there will be some unintended consequences — some good, some bad. One of those is that while standards may come down, there will be a stronger push to not be beaten by the women. Such shaming of fat bodies will carry over to greater physical fitness.
Honestly, I have had a greater kinship with Marines, especially infantry Marines than anyone in the outside world. My well documented love of redheads aside, I would consider it the greatest fortune to find a woman who I could share that with. In Firefly terms, I swoon for Kaylee, and Inara might be hot, but the woman I’d truly want to make my own would be Zoe. That’s who you establish dominance over this world with.
In short: not many women can handle a ruck. Those that can are a special breed. I’d share a fighting hole with one in an instant.
On a down note, I don’t want to undercut my main point, but you will find a rash of women getting pregnant pre-deployment. People are really scared to deploy, and I’m not just talking about combat deployments. I once knew a kid who was going to have his girlfriend run his leg over to break his femur to get him out of a deployment to Okinawa. The solution for a woman needn’t be quite so drastic. But that’s no reason to punish all women, nor the Corps for that matter by weeding out the extraordinary women.
