Last week, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced a major policy change. The Feminist Majority Foundation issued a statement on that policy change:
For Immediate Release:
January 24, 2013
Contact:
Miranda Petersen
mpetersen@feminist.org
703.522.2214
Statement
of Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation On the
Decision to Remove Combat Restrictions on Women Serving in the Armed
Services
The Feminist Majority Foundation applauds the long awaited decision to
remove the combat restriction on women in the military. This is a
historic milestone in the fight for women's equality. The combat
restriction has been a sham. Women have been and are currently serving
in combat positions, but have received neither the recognition nor the
chance for promotion that men have enjoyed. We urge in its
implementation that all barriers based simply on the gender of members
of the armed services be removed, and that they be judged simply upon
their capabilities.
For years women in the military have been discriminated against because
of a cultural war that has finally ended on the position of women in the
military. The reality on the ground has finally become the reality of
public policy.
In 1980, when I was the President of the National Organization for
Women, I released the following statement: "Discrimination against
women...produces in the armed services exactly what it produces in the
society as a whole-wasted skills, talents and potential..." At that
time, we also addressed the false position that women do not serve in
combat roles, saying "The first myth to be dispelled is that women have
not been in combat...Women have served and will continue to serve in
combat environments under the same conditions, suffering the same risks
and injuries as men." Finally, our nation is recognizing this basic fact
and correcting this outrageous injustice that has denied women just
benefits and recognition for far too long.
In the fight for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment it was frequently
argued by opponents that women cannot have equal rights without sharing
equal responsibility. We have had more than our share of
responsibility. Now, because of the courageous service of women in the
armed services, women in the military are finally getting the
recognition they deserve.
###