The
Afghan forces are now training female special forces for the purpose of night
raids against insurgents. These women's job is to round up women and
children and get them out of harm's way while combating female suicide bombers
or female insurgents in the disguise of a civilian Afghan woman. These
women's roles have become more important over the past 23 months and more women
are being trained than ever. This recruitment did not begin until 2011.
The advantages that these women have, such as saving the lives of
innocent women and children, are continually being overshadowed by social
issues with women in the armed forces. The US began to take issue with
this when front-line combat positions became open to the women and in
Afghanistan because this is not their customary role. The woman has to
fight with her family and others who may not be in favor of this before she
even begins her training. Some even hide their occupation in fear of
safety of their lives and their families' lives.
This article is directly related to the
topic of gender that we discussed this week in class. Socially, we are bred from a very young age
that males and females have roles that they play and that they cannot
intersect. The reality is that roles for
males, and especially for females, should not be limited. It becomes second nature to say that a man or
woman cannot do certain things because it is weird, taboo even. In this case, the societal nature of
Afghanistan prohibits women from preforming any work outside of the home and
that fighting is the role of the man.
Women are seen as nurturers, caretakers, and housekeepers. Even the US was a victim of gender roles when
they began to take issue with the workings of this operation when women began
to become front-line leaders. The gender
role issue is a global problem and has to be addressed in the twenty first
century as women become more independent minded.
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