Posted on 01/04/2014 2:41:29 PM PST by nickcarraway
More than half of female Marines in boot camp can't do three pullups, the minimum standard that was supposed to take effect with the new year, prompting the Marine Corps to delay the requirement, part of the process of equalizing physical standards to integrate women into combat jobs.
The delay rekindled sharp debate in the military on the question of whether women have the physical strength for some military jobs, as service branches move toward opening thousands of combat roles to them in 2016. Beginning this week, all female Marines were supposed to be able to do at least three pullups on their annual physical fitness test and eight for a perfect score. Men have the same minimum requirement but need 20 for a perfect score. The previous minimum standard for women was a timed flexed-arm hang. The new requirement was tested on female recruits at Parris Island last year but only 45 percent of women could do even three.
Now, some might say that this proves women aren’t strong. Hogwash. Women are very strong. To give just one important example, more than 100 million women give birth each and every year. It is an impressive feat of strength. Women also nurse their babies, which is fraught with problems ranging from mastitis to thrush. Women display physical strength in many ways, from athletic prowess to working jobs requiring them to be on their feet all day.
And it doesn’t prove that men are physically superior in every way. To given just one unimportant example, some large percentage of men have such a hard time dealing with the common cold that fantastic comedy sketches are written about it. (“For God’s sake, woman, he’s a man, he’s got a man cold!”)
But to state the obvious, by which I mean I’m about to say something extremely controversial, the average female is not as strong in the upper-body region as the average man. (Again: Please don’t demand I be written out of polite society for noting this truth that was universally acknowledged until roughly 15 minutes ago.) Even at my Crossfit gym, which is full of freakishly strong humans of both sexes, the men routinely outperform the women. And one of the things I love about my gym is that everyone is simply encouraged to do their work to the best of their ability.
So the problem with the fact that most female Marine recruits aren’t meeting even the minimum requirement for upper-body strength isn’t that women aren’t strong. In fact, the problem is not even that men and women have different physical strengths.
The problem is that we are all supposed to pretend that men and women are identical. It doesn’t help men, women, children or the institutions they inhabit to pretend natural differences don’t exist. And here, it’s actually dangerous. We may have forgotten in our rush to drone warfare what actual combat entails. It’s grueling and requires tremendous physical and mental strength and discipline.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos wants training officials to “continue to gather data and ensure that female Marines are provided with the best opportunity to succeed,” according to a statement from the Marines. The Associated Press then goes on to characterize the truth that “pullups require the muscular strength necessary to perform common military tasks such as scaling a wall, climbing up a rope or lifting and carrying heavy munitions” simply as a “belief” held by the Marine Corps. I wonder where they got that crazy idea. I mean, I can’t scale a wall or climb a rope but I’ve noticed that everyone at my gym who can do these things can also do a pullup. Or 20 pullups. One can read these statements and the backtracking on pullup requirements as a precursor to watering down the skills required to be effective in a Marine combat situation. The story states that if the military decides to keep some positions closed to women, they must explain why.
Success for women should not mean being viewed, contrary to reality, as interchangeable with men in all things. Men and women are both strong but strong in very different ways, both of which contribute mightily to human flourishing.
She has since changed her public tune on that one. I think the UFC told her to knock it off. She wound up saying that it would look bad for a guy to be pummeling a woman...I agree.
I suspect you don’t realize she’s agreeing with you.
I was wondering if I had read a different article than the other posters. lol
Google “youtube Marine M777 fire for effect” and watch those Marines put ten rounds down range in slightly over 2 minutes and tell me upper body strength doesn’t count. Watch any arty fire for effect. Watch any real life video of Marines dragging wounded and tell me strength doesn’t count.
Tankers were always the biggest guys in the regiment, not because they could carry their work out equipment on the tank, but because they had some heavy, heavy work to do.
An army general recently said that the days of Rambo are over. My dying butt. Watch these guys kicking in doors, hauling ammo, humping heavy loads. IT MATTERS!
I will never forget how much that stuff kicked my butt. Never lessen the standards, if anything, make them tougher.
You are quite correct! It’s actually a great article and I agree with her entirely. I live near Camp Lejeune MCB and I know from the local news stories that three women did actually successfully graduate from the infantry program. They obviously made it through boot camp since they are stationed aboard Camp Lejeune.
Methinks Mollie Hemingway doesn't quite grasp that the definition of "strong" depends on context.
Her dishonesty in conflating the many definitions, and tapdancing around or (ignoring) the specific "strength" being addressed, made her entire opinion rather useless.
Yes, I admit that in tests of physical strength requiring "work" in the physics sense, there are many women stronger than I but that does not make rendering a physical strength standard useless in certain professions and applications because it's not politically correct.
The woman must be a nutbar, or is an attention whore...If she ever climbed into an MMA ring with a pro male fighter, they’d be calling the coroner to remove her body..
Yow, we've got some irony-challenged people here.
Until 100% of all wars can be fought on computer terminals, that is a profoundly stupid statement.
Google Jessica Lynch.
>> Hogwash. Women are very strong.
Egos don’t win battles nor wars.
Stop with the BS...Even at the local auto parts, they hire these young woman and after a week on the job, the other male employees have to do all the heavy lifting...Same in most all jobs now...This is no secret.
The PC BS just goes on an on and on and on...
I agree, she is on our side, but is trying to explain her position and remain PC. She is basically saying women have strength in other areas, but that doesn’t mean they should be in combat. That is the way I read it anyway...
She used “strength” instead of “tough”. I did stop reading before the end of the article. I went back and read it, and you’re correct about the point made. Mea culpa.
I am hard of hearing: not equally across all frequencies, but there are particular pitches that are just inaudible "holes" in my auditory range. For instance the bells at Mass. I can see the server's arm working as he rings the bells, but I can't hear a thing.
I am convinced some people (no offense) are tone-deaf to irony.
It's probably a good thing. Some men maybe go their whole lives without catching their wives' ironic tone. ("I'm sure you're right, honey....")
Many people think she is “not right” in the head. I am one of them.
I don’t think you realize that Mollie Hemingway is agreeing with you.
As if anyone with a spark left in their brain need Molly to tell us, “Woman are different”..
Has Drudge picked up on this yet?
Women, in large part, do not have the bone structure, muscle density, natural aggressiveness to be effective combat soldiers. Of course you can find exceptions, but men, by a great margin, have these attributes much more abundantly than women.
Women physically have and will break at rates that will degrade unit effectiveness. This does not even address the mental differences between men and women which are also very considerable.
Men and women are different. Treating them the same is a waste of resources and does not enhance unit effectiveness.
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