“Assigning women to combat is a radical attack on the natural complementarity of the sexes. » (Kirkwood)We live in a time where women can run for president and leave the house instead of staying at home as housewives. Women compete in the Olympics and become cops. So the question is, “Should women be allowed to fight?” »Women have been fighting since the late 1700s, so why not let it continue. Women should be allowed to fight because they already serve in combat. Research from the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) shows that women who contributed to combat in Iraq had a positive impact (Women Should Be…). However, women should not be allowed to participate in combat, not because of their gender, but because they are not capable of performing combat tasks. This is demonstrated by the physical traits of an average woman. Women in combat have less physical strength than the average man (Donelly). In this article we will find out whether or not women should be allowed to participate in combat and to what extent they are capable of doing so. Historical Background Women have served in the military since the late 1700s. To be more specific, women have been in the military since 1775, during the American Revolution, even though they weren't supposed to. Why weren't women allowed to serve in the military? Because they were not equal and did not have enough rights like men. But women still managed to work as nurses, cooks and other jobs. Women were enlisted as nurses because the Union needed people to help wounded soldiers (right). The main reason women became nurses and cooks was because one of their male family members had been sent to war. Women therefore needed a way to support themselves (B...... middle of paper ......During this period During the war, a British woman named Flora Sandes joined the army and wanted being treated and called a man while in the army She wanted to be on the battlefield helping her fellow soldiers instead of staying and hospitalizing the first female soldier to be drafted into the army. Serbian (Bourke) Army recruits more than 13,000 women for telephone operations, freeing sailors for sea duty in the United States and nurses (“History Highlights…”). , they were not allowed to enlist in combat at the time when they were still recognized with awards such as the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military medal and highest non-combatant honor (Wilson). 1941, World War II begins and more than 60,000 women are enlisted for maritime service in the United States and abroad (“Highlights in the History).…”).