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While I do not believe anybody should be forced to serve in the military, I am especially opposed to conscription of females. I consider myself quite free-spirited and liberal in many aspects. For example, women should receive equal pay for equal work. If a woman is qualified to perform what is traditionally thought to be a man's job, then they should have a fair opportunity to be considered for employment. This sounds like I should be writing to the "yes" side of this debate, doesn't it? Indeed, I have no problem with women who excel in occupations such as auto mechanics or construction work just as I have no issues with men employed as nurses or hairdressers. After all, it's not 1950 anymore, right?

However liberal or free-spirited I may be, though; I possess an ages-old trait: Chivalry. In days of old, when many crossed the world's vast oceans on ships, there was a law of sorts, and it stated that if the vessel took on water and would inevitably sink, women and children were to be considered first when it came to getting the passengers out of harm's way. If you don't believe me, sit down some night and watch the film Titanic. The point is that I have strong feelings that women and children should be protected. Under no circumstances should females be engaged in military combat, nor should they be in any other line of work where irrevocable harm or death could occur. This includes being discouraged from becoming street cops in a high-crime metropolitan area or firefighters. Have you seen a show called Deadliest Catch, where those guys go out in boats in the Bering Strait to catch crab? In my opinion, this is no place for women.

There certainly are females who would be capable of such dangerous trades. In fact, there are women who could easily pound any man into the ground, but is this feminine? I don't think so. I am always bothered more when I hear of a woman being murdered or killed in some other way such as a car accident than when a man is the victim. I can't help myself. I really care for the well-being of women; and of course children, too.

Obviously, none of us can figuratively bury our heads in the sand by shutting ourselves up in the house to avoid any potential hazard that lurks out there, but why draft women into the military when it is not necessary? I can only hope that our senseless involvement in Iraq comes to a close before my daughter reaches her eighteenth birthday. You know why?

I don't relish the idea of her being killed by some fanatical suicide bomber. Or by any other means, for that matter.

Learn more about this author, Patrick Sills.
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