Waves of TikTok club-going Ukrainian women mowed down by first-person drones, arms missing, legs missing, battlefields littered by female corpses as far as the eye can see. In a “gender equal” world, this would be the brutal and terrifying reality on the ground in the Ukraine war. That is unfortunately the reality that men are facing every single day.Historical grievances from women — less pay for the same work, even lacking the right to vote — pale in comparison to the issue of forced conscription, which dates back to our origins as a tribal species. Men mostly had no choice but to pick up a spear or gun when the call came, or face imprisonment, execution or even torture. On the battlefield, men died violent, horrifying deaths.
In fact, the issue of conscription, and the imbalance between the genders, is becoming increasingly relevant across the world. As women demand the benefits of equality, equal pay for instance, they mostly have no desire to experience the negatives of equality, especially when it comes to combat operations.
The issue is now being debated in the German press as the country grapples with potentially reintroducing conscription under the new CDU and SPD government.
Arguably, progressive and liberal Germany makes gender equality even more of an issue than mostly conservative Ukraine, so if conscription is instated in Germany once again, women should not only be drafted, but they should also be drafted in equal numbers for front-line combat positions.
Private Dajana Bartczewski, left, puts camouflage paint on the face of an unidentified male soldier during an exercise by German Bundeswehr soldiers from the “Generalfeldmarschall-Rommel-Kaserne” barracks in Augustdorf, western Germany, 200 kms (125 miles) northeast of Duesseldorf, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2001. It was the first time since the beginning of 2001 that female soldiers joined a military exercise in combat units and were permitted to handle weapons. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
One German commentator for Welt, a female writer, Marie-Luise Goldmann, would likely agree with this position, writing:
“One question is central to the discussions about the reintroduction of conscription: Should it also apply to women? In addition to pragmatic reasons, there are also moral ones. After all, sparing women is not fair.
Anyone who talks about the reintroduction of conscription cannot – to paraphrase Max Horkheimer – remain silent about gender equality. After Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg suspended conscription in 2011 after 55 years, German politicians are now once again calling on the government to discuss the abolition of the principle of voluntary service. This is intended to counteract the shortage of personnel in the Bundeswehr in an increasingly uncertain world situation.
But who should conscription apply to? Again only to men or now also to women? A simple majority in the Bundestag is enough to reinstate conscription under Article 12a. To make conscription compulsory for women, however, the Basic Law would have to be changed, which would require a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat.”
Goldmann further notes that in Norway, women are already drafted, and in countries like Cuba, Bolivia and Eritrea, there is no distinction made between the sexes when it comes to compulsory military service. She ends her piece by writing, “Before women wait for men to voluntarily give up their privileges at some point, they could show them how to do it.”
However, even for those countries that draft women, it is questionable if gender equality truly exists in these nations. Even for the famously gender-equal Israeli army, women mostly get a free pass. The army there noted during the 2014 Gaza War that fewer than 4 percent of female soldiers were enlisted in combat positions, such as infantry or fighter pilots. Instead, almost all women were in “combat-support” positions. That is not to say that women in the IDF have not fought and died for their country, with over 500 dying since 1962. However, the gender ratio in terms of combat deaths is wildly skewed, with men far more likely to perish.
Goldmann should at least be commended for promoting real equality in Germany, but there are few other women lining up behind her. Even for those women who are against the war in Ukraine, most of them are also for equal pay, equal voting rights, and other forms of equality. If that is the case, then men must also demand equality on the battlefield.
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