Exploration of

Women in the
Military
Niamh Condon, Alex Heuwetter, Isabella Piccola
Group Website
Senior Division
Process Paper Word Count: 481

Over the last two decades, women have served on naval ships, in the
armed forces, and on aircrafts. To this day, women continue to serve with
pride and strength. Female combat duty has become a controversial issue
both in Congress and worldwide. We were captivated by this topic as it
recurred so often in the news. In August 2015, Capt. Kristen Griest and Lt.
Shaye Haver became the first female graduates of Ranger School. This story
was inspirational, as throughout history women were considered to be inferior
to their male counterparts and held at lower standards.
Propaganda posters and photographs from various archives and
military museums such as the Library of Congress and National Archives were
crucial to understand the contra-distinct perspectives of people throughout
history. Official documents from the Congressional Research Service provided
extensive reliable statistics, congressional acts, and future outlooks for
Congress. These documents contain a debate from Congress with valid
arguments on both sides; it has ultimately been concluded that all combat
positions are now open to women. We visited an air force base in New York,
(which must be disclaimed according to the US Government.) Here we were
connected with three current members of the Air Force with whom we
conducted interviews. From the interviews, we were able to gain insight into
the lives of military men and women, as well as incidences of discrimination,
and standards by which each are held.
After months of researching our topic, Women in the Military, our group
was able to compile a working thesis: Throughouthistory,womenhaveexplorednew
militaryroles,encountereddiscrimination,andexchangedthetraditionalroleforwomenwith
theirnewcombatrole.Womenweregivenmoreimportantjobswithgreatervarietyduringthe

WorldWarIIera(19391945).Over150,000womenservedintheWAC(Women'sArmy
Corps),oneofthemanymilitarygroupsduringWorldWarIIthatgavewomenjobopportunities.
Sincethen,manychangeshaveoccurredintheroleofwomeninthemilitary.
Throughouthistory,womenhavebeendeprivedofnumerousrights,includingservingon
thefrontlineandalongsidemen.Themales,fearingthatwomenwouldtakeovertheirjobs,made
surethatwomenstayedinthehouseholdtakingcareofthecooking,cleaningandthefamily.
DuringWorldWarII,however,womenexplorednewrolesasmilitarygroupssuchastheWACS,
WASPS,andWAVESwereformed.Americawasapatriarchalsociety,thuswomenencountered
discriminationastheywereconsideredbothphysicallyandmentallyweakerthanmales.We
concludedasagrouptomakeawebsiteasweneededanoptionthatiseasilyaccessibleandthat
organizesourinformationinaneffectiveandclearway.Photographsandvideoswerecrucialto
ourprojectaswefocusedmainlyontheshiftofwomensrolesthroughouthistory.Wethoughta
website,inclusiveofslideshowsandvideofootage,wouldbestshowcaseourresearch.