Date: October 1, 2013
EN33
Unit 6 Essay
Persuasive Writing
Grade: _100____/100
Writing prompt: Write a multi-paragraph essay that argues a point and persuades the reader to support your opinion or to take action.
Begin typing your essay below:
An Over-due Chance
Recognized or not, women have been on the front lines of war since the beginning. They have served as cooks and nurses, both of which can be harmed just as easily as a soldier. So why not go ahead and make it official? Women want to be able to join the combatant ranks throughout all the branches of the military. They can’t join due to a ban on women not being able to be on the front lines of battle. Women should be allowed to engage in direct ground combat because anyone can be a liability, everyone should be treated fairly, and not all women have the same physical stability.
Women in the military are supposedly a big liability. When on a mission they can be captured, tortured for information, and possibly killed by the enemy (Petronio). Although this is a great reason for women to stay behind and be safe within the military grounds, it’s not good enough. Male soldiers can be captured, tortured even more brutally, and killed just as easily. It’s one of the sad effects of giving your life up for your country. If the enemy really wanted information, they wouldn’t care whether you’re a man or a woman; either one will work for them to get want they want.
One of the biggest issues male soldiers consider a liability are their born and bred instinct to protect women. The enemy will use captured women as a way to get information from the male soldiers. Male soldiers believe this to be a liability to the mission (Petronio). Male soldiers have to treat women the same way they would treat another fellow male soldier. They need to protect her with the same amount of energy and fierceness they would a male soldier. The military teaches its soldiers to treat each other like family. So whether it’s a brother or a sister, they should protect them the same way. The women soldiers shouldn’t be treated differently or with more protection because that would jeopardize the mission. She should be given the same treatment as if she were a man.
You can’t send a pregnant woman into battle. If a woman is pregnant, it is unlikely she would sign up to be in the infantry unit. Nor would she risk the chance of a pregnancy by engaging in acts that could lead to one, since she willingly signed up for the infantry unit. Men should be able to control themselves along with women to prevent anything that will keep a unit from being deployed. They are trained to have resistance and stubbornness. Personal life needs to be kept separate from their professional lives.
A problem women have with not being able to join infantry units is progressing in their careers. Being a part of the infantry, artillery, and Special Ops units are really the only ways to advance in their careers and get a higher pay. By not allowing them to join those specific ranks, the military is keeping them from advancing professionally (Taylor). Women also aren’t being recognized for the services they provide for the infantry units. Soldiers mostly get recognized for the service they do in artillery, Special Ops and infantry. If women aren’t even able to choose what type of job they want to do then who’s to say men and women are equal? Equality doesn’t exist if women don’t have the same opportunities men do.
Women would be a great addition to the combatant ranks because they simply have abilities men don’t have. During certain missions, different things are required to get the job done. Having women there will allow a wider range of assignments and more possible candidates for those assignments. Women would be better at establishing interpersonal relationships than a man would and would therefore get more done (Taylor).
A big part of being in the military at all is being able to physically