The Male Only Draft

It wasn't that long ago that women were finally even allowed to be in military combat positions; now a federal judge has ruled that excluding women from draft registration is unconstitutional. It is about time. The male only draft was one of the few laws left on the books that is overtly discriminatory.

The case was brought by a men's rights group. I can't help but think it would have been better if a woman's rights group had taken it up at the same time as when they advocated for the right to the work in combat positions. But I'll take it - progress is progress.

We are very close to eliminating gender discrimination in the law. Now if could only eliminate it in practice. We have made progress. Law and medical schools now graduate as many, often more, women than men.  Yet we still see fewer women than men in many positions ranging from the CEOs to construction workers. Likewise we see many fewer men than women who work as nurses and elementary school teachers. And of course there are very few combat soldiers who are women. We also need to see either as many women pay alimony as men or better yet eliminate it entirely.