Women in National Security Roles

As in many areas of our society, women are under-represented in national security roles. Unlike Spring, who used to argue that a woman not only shouldn't but couldn't be president, I think it it is terrible that women are under represented in executive offices, politics and national security or anywhere else for that matter. Even as a kid, I could not understand how anyone could oppose the Equal Rights Amendment. 

Mieke Eoyang

However, what I do not like is when a proposed solution to a problem is not only superficial but actually makes matters worse. The great thing about the article cited above is when the two female national security experts discuss the effects of banning women from combat roles.

ALLAM: Women still face many obstacles. For one, they're only now starting to see the payoff from being allowed into combat roles, earning battlefield experience that could help them advance to defense leadership. Eoyang again. 

EOYANG: What we're starting to see now are the first generation of women who entered national security after those bans were lifted being old enough to be senior in this field. This is an inflection moment.

So banning women from combat roles is a cause, a huge cause, of there being less women in national security roles. Of course this is true!. There are some who would like to create quotas for women in national security but that will never work. Once the gender gap in military fatalities is eliminated so will the gender gap in national security roles. I know people are often uncomfortable thinking this way but such thinking is just sexism.