Quote Originally Posted by AmericanPride View Post
It's not only the change character of modern warfare, but also the ways in which society has changed the relationship between genders. The old views about genders are increasingly irrelevant - and, to some extent, destructive and obstructionist. The underlying structures of capitalism and democracy - as they exist today, and which, ultimately, inform the construction of the security apparatus around them - do not require any sort of differentiation. In fact, given the trends in finance, labor, public health, technology, and trade, they are positively harmed by any kind of exclusionary policies which reduce one segment's participation in this system. The last few decades have witnessed this dismantling with a few holdouts in the 'cultural wars'.

So this isn't just about combat effectiveness...
I quite agree that this is not just about combat effectiveness. The way a military fights reflects the society it comes from and what that society aspires to be. I just see no hard evidence that the change is for the better. It seems to be both inconsistent in application, inefficient in costs and ill-considered in thinking through the second and third order consequences. In saying this I am looking across society as a whole, but the military is a good microcosm of this.

I remain bemused by the modern insistence that men and women are not just equal but should be regarded as the same, when patently they are not.