If we rape them, they will serve. At least this much is true in Syria, a nation whose president has recruited more women into the National Defense Force in recent months than ever before. The legitimacy of reported rapes in Syria is a point of contention between President Bashar al-Assad regime proponents and his opposition.
The two sides have argued whether the al-Assad-aligned forces are responsible for the bulk of sexual violence that takes place in Syria. Regardless, the number of rapes in the country is staggering and has an influence on women’s willingness to serve in the newly forming paramilitary group, “Lionesses for National Defense.”
Women who join, or are otherwise recruited, become members of a version of an army reserve, and they guard checkpoints and check veiled women who might possibly carry suicide bombs.
Pro-regime Hanadi Assou, representative for “Hands Off Syria,” said this has little to do with an increase in male casualties in the military. She said women in Syria have always been free to join the armed forces and have traditionally been well-respected under al-Assad.
Like-minded supporters of al-Assad also contend that women are merely joining the armed forces now out of loyalty and obligation to their country. Oppositionists would argue that the rapidly increasing numbers of women in the armed forces is a key component of a classic propaganda technique to give the impression of a traditionally “women-respecting” society.
It’s more likely that women in Syria are suiting up to fight on whatever side will arm them merely as a means to protect themselves and their children. Women and children are being targeted directly to send a message of humiliation to the rebels in Syria – a historically typical tactic of war.
The seriousness of all this makes women-in-combat issues in the U.S. seem a little less urgent. Is it really necessary to bicker over whether women in the U.S. should be allowed to fight on the front lines alongside men? The truth is no, ladies. We are physically incapable of some things men can do. Suck it up.
This isn’t to say that rape in the U.S. is not as equally evident as it is in Syria, but it’s safe to say that President Barack Obama is at least not endorsing sexual violence as a weapon to oppress the American people.
The point is that women in the U.S. want to serve to soothe their egos, whereas women in Syria have to join up in order to stand a chance against sexual violence as both a weapon and a consequence of war.
It’s a relief that U.S. headlines are finally starting to lose interest in the idea of outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta lifting various limitations for women in the military. Women in Syria make up half the population, yet they have been all but invisible in political discussion and media coverage.
Women in the U.S. feel far too entitled to a legacy of oppression. Women. You can’t live with them, can’t keep them in the kitchen either.
Paige Pelonis is a sophomore journalism and international studies major and the assistant opinions editor for the Daily 49er.