Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced recently that the Pentagon was lifting its ban on women serving in combat.

Before, women were only allowed to “temporarily be in danger zones,” but now they can be on the front lines, just as men are allowed to.  

My first reaction was, that’s great! 

Quite frankly, I’m not really a “feminist” but I’m not “sexist” either. I fall somewhere in the middle. The draft didn’t really affect me before, and it doesn’t really affect me now seeing as I have no intention of going off to serve in combat. 

Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction for full equality. 

Women who want to serve in combat should be allowed to fully serve in combat and be treated as the equals of men. 

They still have to pass the same physical tests, they still have to pass the same health tests, and they still have to be able to do at least three pull-ups, just like men.

A military official told The New York Times that the law will be implemented “as soon as possible;” however, Congress has three years to make a final decision.

The New York Times added that each branch of the military reserves the right to withhold a job from women if it decides that she cannot fulfill it.

However, the article also states that Congress is thinking about allowing women to enter the draft.

This comes as a bit of a contradiction to me. There may still be some jobs that the military doesn’t want women to do, yet they will allow them to sign up for compulsory enrollment with the armed forces. 

 So my first reaction to that statement is hell no!

I don’t want to sign up for the draft, there are plenty of women, who I know don’t want to sign up for the draft, and honestly, I don’t think America is ready for women to sign up for the draft.

I’m not being sexist, I’m being honest.

Our society generally raises girls and boys very differently.

Boys play with swords and pretend they’re pirates. 

Girls play house with dolls.

Boys dress up as ninjas and kick and punch everyone walking by.

Girls dress up as princesses and prance around with jewelry and make up on.

Boys play Call of Duty and Black Ops.

Girls don’t play video games.

Of course I am being very general, but our society typically raises pretty princesses and strong knights in armor. Not to mention, men are built differently physically than girls. They develop different muscles, and they have different chemicals that naturally make them more aggressive.

According to Mail Online, a newspaper from the UK, Australian scientists have found what they call a “macho gene” in men that gives them the “fight or flight” instinct whereas women are more of the “tend and befriend” type. 

When men are in stressful situations, they have stress hormones that increase their blood pressure and pump adrenaline through their veins. Women have estrogen and the “cuddle hormone,” oxytocin, that counteracts that.

This isn’t to say that girls can’t defend themselves.

You see women lifting cars off of their babies because mama bear comes out from the adrenaline. 

I loved playing with dolls and I loved dressing up like a princess, but my father also taught me to punch when I was 6. He told me that if a guy ever attacks me, punch them in the throat first and then kick them in the sweet spot because their first reaction is to protect their jewels. 

However, I also know that my father would find it difficult to watch his princess pick up an AK47 and go at it on foreign land.

So no, I don’t believe that is the right step towards full equality.

With all of that said, there are some guys out there who I don’t want defending our country. No insult to men, but some people are born in different situations, live different lives, have more or less of the “macho gene” in them. Just as some men can mentally and physically handle war better than others, the same goes for women. 

So my solution?

Plain and simple, make the draft optional for men and women. 

I know that sounds insane, and you may be thinking, “how in the world can you even propose that,” but here is the thing:

The draft was created after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 because there were not enough volunteers to fight in the war. However, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, in 2009 they had almost 300,000 Americans sign up for different branches in the military, each branch meeting or surpassing the necessary amount.

I won’t go as far as saying that the draft is unnecessary, because I can’t predict if there is going to be World War III soon where all of America will have to go off and fight. But for now, save Americans the heartache, and make the draft optional for both women and men. 

Some people would be more than happy to waltz down to the United States Post Office to sign up for the draft on their 18th birthday. I can promise you that I was neither thinking about it, nor wanting to sign up for the draft on my 18th birthday. 

However, I can also promise you this: If there was a war on American soil, families were dying, loved ones were tortured, the American people would come together and they would fight.

If Red Dawn went down on American soil, if Korea took my family, killed my father, and hurt my loved ones, I can promise you that I would pull a Mulan and go defend my country and my family. 

If it is full equality America wants, making women sign up for the draft is one step too far. I believe we must take one step back, making it an option for those, both men and women, who know that they can mentally and physically handle it.