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Conscription and sexism

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Soviet conscripts, Moscow, 1941

Conscription, sometimes called "the draft", is the compulsory enlistment of people in a national service, most often a military service. Men have been subjected to military drafts in most cases. Currently only two countries conscript women and men on the same formal conditions: Norway and Sweden.[1]

Opponents of discrimination against men,[2][3]: 102 [who?] including some feminists,[4][5][6][7][8] have criticized military conscription, or compulsory military service, as sexist. They regard it as discriminatory to compel men, but not women, into military service. They say conscription of men normalizes male violence, conscripts are indoctrinated into sexism and violence against men, and military training socializes conscripts into patriarchal gender roles.[9][10]

While not all feminists are anti-militarists, opposition to war and militarism has been a strong current within the women's movement. Prominent suffragists like Quaker Alice Paul, and Barbara Deming, a feminist activist and thinker of the 1960s and 1970s, were ardent pacifists. Moreover, feminist critique has often regarded the military as a "hierarchical, male-dominated institution promoting destructive forms of power."[11] Feminists have been organizers and participants in resistance to female conscription.[12][13][14][15]

History

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Historically, men have been subjected to conscription in the most cases,[3]: 255 [16][17][18][19] and only in the late 20th century did this begin to change, though most countries still require only men to serve in the military. The integration of women into militaries, and especially into combat forces, did not begin on a large scale until late in the 20th century. In his book The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys (2012), philosopher David Benatar states that the theoretical arguments are immaterial to those who are pressed into service: "Some women are excluded from combat, but many more women are exempt. While some men are excluded from combat (because they fail the relevant tests), many more are pressured or forced into combat." According to Benatar, "[t]he prevailing assumption is that where conscription is necessary, it is only men who should be conscripted and, similarly, that only males should be forced into combat". This, he believes, "is a sexist assumption".[3]: 102 

Current practice

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Israeli female soldiers

As of now, ten countries conscript both men and women, of which only Norway (since 2013) and Sweden (since 2011 in legislation, since 2018 in practice) conscript both sexes on the same formal conditions.[1] Norway was also the first NATO country to introduce obligatory military service for women as an act of gender equality.[20][21] Other countries conscript women into their armed forces, but with some difference in e.g. service exemptions and length of service; these countries include Israel (where women are about 40% of conscripts drafted every year[22]), Myanmar, Eritrea, Libya, Malaysia, North Korea, Peru and Tunisia.[23] Other countries—such as Finland, Turkey, Lithuania, Singapore, and South Korea—still use a system of conscription which requires military service from only men, although women are permitted to serve voluntarily. Most European countries have no enforced conscription for either gender. The Netherlands, where conscription is not abolished but suspended for peacetime, introduced in 2018 a law extending mandatory military service to women.[24] France and Portugal, where conscription was abolished, extended their symbolic, mandatory day of information on the armed forces for young people—called Defence and Citizenship Day in France and Day of National Defence in Portugal—to women in 1997 and 2008, respectively; at the same time, the military registry of both countries and obligation of military service in case of war was extended to women.[25][26] Denmark will extend conscription to women in 2027.[27][28]

In Singapore, conscription of women has recently been a subject of debate. In 2022, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen claimed that the societal cost will outweigh the benefits, and women will have delayed their entry in the workforce. In the same speech, he affirmed his stand that there is no need to conscript women.[29]

Men in Switzerland are required by law to perform military service and any man deemed unfit or exempted from service must pay 3% of their annual income as military exemption tax, at a minimum of 400CHF ($420).[30] This gender selective draft has previously been challenged in the country,[23] but the case was rejected by the Federal Supreme Court on the grounds that the specific law requiring service takes precedence over the general law forbidding sex discrimination.[31][32] Chantal Galladé, former president of the Swiss Defence Committee calls the conscription of men a discrimination against both men and women, cementing the stereotypical gender roles of men and women.[33]

The practice of conscription has been criticized by various men's rights groups, such as the National Coalition for Men, which claims that "no gender oppression is comparable".[34] These groups have been joined on occasion by certain feminist activists. Beginning in the 1970s, "liberal feminists" have argued in favor of extending conscription to women, taking the position that women cannot have the same rights as men if they do not have the same responsibilities, and that exempting women from conscription perpetuates stereotypes of women as weak and helpless. Radical and pacifist feminists have disagreed, however, contending that "by integrating into existing power structures including military forces and the war system without changing them, women merely prop up a male-dominated world instead of transforming it".[35] There were disagreements between liberal advocates for women's equality and radical and pacifist feminists both in 1980 and again in 2016 on whether women should be included in draft registration or draft registration should be opposed for women and men.[11]

Anthropologist Ayse Gül Altinay has commented that "given equal suffrage rights, there is no other citizenship practice that differentiates as radically between men and women as compulsory male conscription"[36]: 34  and continues elsewhere, stating that "any attempt to de-gender nationalism and citizenship needs to incorporate a discussion of universal male conscription".[36]: 58  She goes on to quote feminist writer Cynthia Enloe, who argues that "there is a reason that so many states in the world have implemented military conscription laws for young men: most of those men would not join the state's military if it were left up to them to choose".[36]: 31–32 

Conscription in post-Soviet space

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In Soviet society, universal male military duty played a significant role in the construction of masculinity: Soviet ideas about militarized masculinity were based on the ideas of civic duty, heroism and patriotism, and Soviet gender ideology defined military service as the most important instance of turning a boy into a man. In post-Soviet Russia, the link between masculinity and militarization, established by the institute of conscription, has undergone significant changes—largely for political and economic reasons. Unlike the Soviet one, the post-Soviet Russian state no longer provides men with the former social guarantees as a reward for militarization, and the state's rupture of the former social contract leads to the reluctance of young men to go to military service. In addition, with the collapse of the Soviet state, militarized masculinity came into conflict with the new capitalist masculinity: many young men believed that military service was incompatible with a dynamic market economy and competition in the labor market. Scientists also state a significant gap between the state ideology of militarized patriotism and the sentiments of the Russian population, a significant part of which is skeptical about post-Soviet military conflicts and does not regard them as fair.[37]

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Ukrainian authorities, in order to mobilize men, banned men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country before the end of hostilities, which could be considered discrimination against men on the basis of gender and violation of human rights.[38][39][40]

Selective service

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See also: Men's rights movement § Military conscription
Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first capsule for the Selective Service draft, December 1, 1969

In the United States, most male US citizens and residents must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday.[41] Those who fail to register may be punished by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, although no non-registrants have been prosecuted since January 1986.[42] They may also be ineligible for federal job training and federal employment, and in certain states, state employment and even driver's licenses.[43]

As of 2014, transgender women are required to register with the Selective Service System, but might be able to apply for exemption in the event they are drafted.[44] (The rules for a future draft, including who would be eligible and what deferments or exemptions were available, would be subject to whatever provisions are included in the legislation authorizing inductions, and can't be predicted with certainty.[45]) Individuals who are born female and have a sex change are not required to register. U.S. citizens or immigrants who are born male and have a sex change are still required to register. In the event of a resumption of the draft, males who have had a sex change may be able to file a claim for an exemption from military service if they receive an order to report for examination or induction. Transgender men are not required to register but may face difficulties in receiving benefits which require registration.[46]

Some state laws provide for automatic registration with the Selective Service System of draft-eligible applicants for driver's licenses. In practice, only those who apply for a driver's license with an "M" gender marker are automatically registered, regardless of sex as assigned at birth. Those with "F" or "X" (non-gendered) driver's licenses are not automatically registered, regardless of sex assigned at birth. This means that in states that allow driver's license applicants to freely select their gender marker, males can opt out of automatic registration with the Selective Service System by requesting an "X" gender marker on their driver's license.[47]

Currently, women are exempted from the requirement to register with the Selective Service System as only males are required to register; this cannot be changed without Congress amending the law, although combat roles for women have been allowed since January 23, 2013, which certain political analysts have said may prompt Congress or the courts to get rid of the female exemption from Selective Service registration or to equalize the treatment of men and women by ending Selective Service registration.[48]

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The Selective Service System in the US had been previously challenged in court in Rostker v. Goldberg in 1981 and in National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System in 2019. Both were argued in small or large part on the grounds of equal protection and due process on the basis of gender.[49] Other court challenges to Selective Service registration have raised other issues.[50] Professor Stephanie M. Wildman of Santa Clara Law called the decision to uphold the constitutionality of male conscription in Rostker v. Goldberg "chilling to any advocate of full societal participation".[51] In the ensuing congressional debate, Senator Mark Hatfield argued that:

The paternalistic attitude inherent in exclusion of women from past draft registration requirements not only relieved women of the burden of military service, it also deprived them of one of the hallmarks of citizenship. Until women and men share both the rights and the obligations of citizenship, they will not be equal.[52]

On February 22, 2019, Judge Grey H. Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, USA, deciding on National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, declared[53] the current male-only Selective Service registration requirement unconstitutional.[54] That ruling was reversed by the Fifth Circuit. In June 2021, [55]the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision by the Court of Appeals.

Women in combat

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Women in combat refers to female military personnel assigned to combat positions. The role of women in the military has varied across the world’s major countries throughout history with several views for and against women in combat. Over time countries have generally become more accepting of women fulfilling combat roles. In the 21st century, more countries have integrated women in combat. In the United Kingdom, in July 2016, all exclusions on women serving in Ground Close Combat (GCC) roles were lifted.[56]

References

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  1. ^ a b Persson, Alma; Sundevall, Fia (2019-03-22). "Conscripting women: gender, soldiering, and military service in Sweden 1965–2018". Women's History Review. 28 (7): 1039–1056. doi:10.1080/09612025.2019.1596542. ISSN 0961-2025.
  2. ^ Berlatsky, Noah (May 29, 2013). "When Men Experience Sexism". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Benatar, David (May 15, 2012). The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-67451-2. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  4. ^ Stephen, Lynn (1981). "Making the Draft a Women's Issue". Women: A Journal of Liberation. 8 (1). Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  5. ^ Lindsey, Karen (1982). "Women and the Draft". In McAllister, Pam (ed.). Reweaving the Web of Life: Feminism and Nonviolence. New Society Publishers. ISBN 0865710163.
  6. ^ Levertov, Denise (1982). "A Speech: For Antidraft Rally, D.C. March 22, 1980". Candles in Babylon. New Directions Press. ISBN 9780811208314.
  7. ^ "CODEPINK Opposes Compulsory Draft Registration for All Genders". Codepink.org. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  8. ^ Sun, Rivera. "Women's Draft? Sign Me Up To Abolish War". Codepink.org. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  9. ^ Michalowski, Helen (May 1982). "Five feminist principles and the draft". Resistance News (8): 2.
  10. ^ Neudel, Marian Henriquez (July 1983). "Feminism and the Draft". Resistance News (13): 7.
  11. ^ a b Schaeffer-Duffy, Claire (June 28, 2016). "Feminists weigh in on draft registration for women". Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  12. ^ "No to female conscription – International Alliance of Women". 24 May 2015. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  13. ^ "Letters from draft-age women about why they wouldn't register for the draft". Resistance News. No. 2. 1 March 1980. p. 6.
  14. ^ "Gestation: Women and Draft Resistance". Resistance News. No. 11. November 1982.
  15. ^ "Women and the resistance movement". Resistance News. No. 21. 8 June 1986.
  16. ^ Goldstein, Joshua S. (2003). "War and Gender: Men's War Roles – Boyhood and Coming of Age". In Ember, Carol R.; Ember, Melvin Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Men and Women in the World's Cultures. Volume 1. Springer. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-306-47770-6. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  17. ^ Kronsell, Anica (June 29, 2006). "Methods for studying silence: The 'silence' of Swedish conscription". In Ackerly, Brooke A.; Stern, Maria; True, Jacqui Feminist Methodologies for International Relations. Cambridge University Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-139-45873-3. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  18. ^ Selmeski, Brian R. (2007). Multicultural Citizens, Monocultural Men: Indigineity, Masculinity, and Conscription in Ecuador. Syracuse University. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-549-40315-9. Retrieved April 25, 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  19. ^ Joenniemi, Pertti (2006). The Changing Face of European Conscription. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 142–149. ISBN 978-0-754-64410-1. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  20. ^ Koranyi, Balazs; Fouche, Gwladys (June 14, 2014). Char, Pravin (ed.). "Norway becomes first NATO country to draft women into military". Reuters. Oslo, Norway. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  21. ^ "Women in the Armed Forces". Norwegian Armed Forces. October 27, 2014. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  22. ^ Women's Service in the Israel Defense Forces
  23. ^ a b "INDEPTH: FEMALE SOLDIERS – Women in the military — international". CBC News. May 30, 2006. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  24. ^ 100,000 Dutch girls will receive letter of conscription this week — including Princess Amalia
  25. ^ Code du Service National
  26. ^ Dia de Defesa Nacional
  27. ^ Dokumenter
  28. ^ Ligestilling og længere tid i trøjen: Forstå den nye værnepligt
  29. ^ "Should women do National Service now? Societal cost will 'far outweigh' benefits, says Ng Eng Hen". CNA. Retrieved 2023-01-23.
  30. ^ "RS 661.1 Ordonnance du 30 août 1995 sur la taxe d'exemption de l'obligation de servir (OTEO)". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  31. ^ Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (January 21, 2010). "Judgment of 21 January 2010" (in German). Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  32. ^ "General conscription does not discriminate against men according to federal court". Humanrights.ch (in German). Menschenrechte Schweiz (MERS). March 28, 2013. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  33. ^ Bondolfi, Sibilla (March 15, 2013). "Abolition of conscription: Compulsory military service for men only is 'untenable'" (in German). Archived from the original on December 6, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  34. ^ "Selective Service (military conscription)". National Coalition for Men. 17 November 2011. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  35. ^ Goldstein, Joshua S. (July 17, 2003). War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa. Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–43. ISBN 978-0-521-00180-9.
  36. ^ a b c Altinay, Ayse Gül (December 10, 2004). The Myth of the Military-Nation: Militarism, Gender, and Education in Turkey. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-403-97936-0.
  37. ^ Eichler, Maya (2011). Militarizing Men: Gender, Conscription, and War in Post-Soviet Russia. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804778367.
  38. ^ Wojnicka, K. (17 January 2023). "His body, his choice? Patriarchy, discrimination against men and protective masculinity at war". NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies. 18: 1–4. doi:10.1080/18902138.2023.2168849. S2CID 256136163.
  39. ^ Storf, Pia Lotta (18 March 2022). "Ukraine's Travel Ban, Gender and Human Rights: Gendered Impacts of Conflict and the Right to Leave". Völkerrechtsblog. doi:10.17176/20220318-121030-0. Archived from the original on 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  40. ^ "Why banning men from leaving Ukraine violates their human rights". 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  41. ^ "Selective Service System: Welcome". Selective Service System. Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. February 12, 2015. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  42. ^ Hasbrouck, Edward. "Prosecutions of Draft Registration Resisters". Resisters.info. National Resistance Committee. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  43. ^ "Benefits and Programs Linked to Registration". Selective Service System. Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. December 21, 2010. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  44. ^ {{Cite web|url=https://www.sss.gov/qa.htm#quest35%7Ctitle=Frequently Asked Questions: Question #35|date=April 9, 2015|access-date=May 2, 2015|website=Selective Service System|publisher=Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330053320/https://www.sss.gov/QA.HTM#quest35%7Carchive-date=March 30, 2015|url-status=live|quote=How does the Military Selective Service Act apply to individuals who have had a sex change?
  45. ^ Hasbrouck, Edward. "What is the Selective Service System?". Resisters.info. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  46. ^ "Selective Service and Transgender People". National Center for Transgender Equality. May 27, 2005. Archived from the original on March 16, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  47. ^ Hasbrouck, Edward. "Gender markers and draft registration". Resisters.info. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  48. ^ "Women and the Draft: Women Aren't Required to Register". Selective Service System. February 25, 2014. Archived from the original on March 27, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  49. ^ Angelluci, Marc E. (April 13, 2013). "National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System" (PDF). National Coalition for Men. United States Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 21, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  50. ^ Hasbrouck, Edward. "Litigation (court cases) about Selective Service registration". Resisters.info. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  51. ^ Wildman, Stephanie M. (January 1, 1984). "The Legitimation of Sex Discrimination: A Critical Response to Supreme Court Jurisprudence". Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. Santa Clara University School of Law. p. 294. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  52. ^ MacDwyer, Sara (September 9, 2010). "Rostker v. Goldberg: The Uneven Development of the Equal Protection Doctrine in Military Affairs". Golden Gate University Law Review. Women's Law Forum. 12 (3). Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015. Once the combat issue is put in proper perspective and the evidence of women's recognized ability to perform military functions is assessed, it becomes apparent that an exclusion of women from a draft registration requirement would be the product of the archaic notion that women must remain 'as the center of home and family.' One court apparently recognized as much about the Congress which enacted the prior draft law. In upholding that law's exclusion of women, the court stated: 'In providing for involuntary service for men and voluntary service for women, Congress followed the teachings of history that if a nation is to survive, men must provide the first line of defense while women keep the home fires burning.' At one time judicially accepted, such romantically paternalistic underpinnings of sex-based classifications are intolerable under current equal protection doctrine. Overbroad generalizations concerning one sex or the other no longer can [sic] used to substitute for a functional, gender-neutral means of distinguishing between the physically unfit and the able bodied. The paternalistic attitude inherent in exclusion of women from past draft registration requirements not only relieved women of the burden of military service, it also deprived them of one of the hallmarks of citizenship. Until women and men share both the rights and the obligations of citizenship, they will not be equal.
  53. ^ "Final Judgment, National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System, Civil Action H-16-3362" (PDF). Hasbrouck.org. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  54. ^ Hasbrouck, Edward. "Federal court declares current military draft registration requirement unconstitutional". Hasbrouck.org. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  55. ^ Somin, Ilya (7 June 2021). "Supreme Court Refuses to Consider Case Challenging Male-Only Draft Registration—but Suggests it Might Revisit the Issue in the Future". Reason. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  56. ^ "News & Events". www.army.mod.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
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