Anti-female bias in the military
The struggle for equality in the military for women parallels that of African-American men in many other ways. As a direct result of the need for additional "manpower," women's push for better treatment in the military, and a desire for a larger, stronger military, in 1948, the Women's Armed Services Integration Act was enacted. This act made it possible for women to become permanent members in the military.
Once again, as with African-American men, that act alone was not enough to ensure integration thus leading to a multitude of policies designed to accomplish that end. Almost immediately following this act, in 1949, it was changed to eliminate women with dependent children. This was not changed until the 1970's. Now, like men, women may serve in the military even if they have dependent children. The struggle for women in the military continues as is evidenced by the fact that as recently as 1984, it was recommended by the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services that "the Office of the Secretary of Defense reiterate, through the publication of a formal policy statement to commanders and field personnel at all levels, the requirement that women be fully utilized in their assigned operational units" (Defense Technical Information Center, 2012).
Striving towards gender equality
Unlike the Executive order mandating racial integration executed by Truman on behalf of the African-American man, women's rights in the military were actually championed in Congress by Senator Margaret Close Smith. She was the impetus to the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 (Borlik, 1998). Without her hard work and dedication it is unlikely that this act would have passed Congress and it is even less clear if Harry S. Truman would have bypassed Congress with an Executive Order mandating equality for women in the United States military, especially given the views on women during the 1940's. Clearly, it was not until the 1970's that women were allowed to serve if they had dependent children though this posed no problem for men of any color.
However, like African-American men, women have had the support of many. As noted above, Senator Margaret Close Smith successfully fought for women's rights within the military. Along with the senator, there was the pressure born to bear by the Feminist Movement, and like the African-American men, the Civil Rights Movement also played a significant role. As of this writing, in these United States of America, women are still not guaranteed equal rights in the military or anywhere else according to the Constitution. This is because the Equal...
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