I was
thrilled to learn that we would be focusing on challenging the status quo this quarter
in Humanities. I think that it is violations of the status quo that keeps
things interesting. Also, I find that the people who have the courage to
challenge the status quo are the most inspiring. Without violations of the
norm, there would not be any chance for change to occur.
One
example of the status quo being challenged in the U.S. that we discussed in
class was the recent change in policy concerning women in the Armed Forces. As
of earlier this month, women are now allowed to obtain combat positions. This
change in policy disproves the notion that combat duty is only a man’s job;
thus challenging a status quo that has existed for all of U.S. history. As someone who believes in equal opportunities
for women, hearing about this change gave me hopes that other opportunities that
have previously been off limits to women will soon become available as well.
In an
article I read about the change of the Armed Forces policy, it explained how the
current policy is much fairer than it was before. In the conflicts that have
been occurring in Afghanistan and Iraq, where there are not any defined battle
lines, women serving in ‘non-combat’ positions have ended up in the same/similar high-intensity situations
as their male counterparts. Therefore the new policy is consistent with the realities
of these recent conflicts. Now that the policy has been officially changed, much-owed
recognition will finally be given to the more than one hundred courageous women
who died during their service in the past twelve years. The change also means
that women who serve will now receive the benefits that they deserve. In the
future, it will be possible for women to reach higher military ranks that
require previous combat experience. This is yet another example of how
challenging, and eventually changing, the status quo can lead to the
development of a more fair system.
This
issue matters to me because it made me realize that women have the level of opportunities
that we do today as a result of the actions of the courageous women who have
challenged the status-quo in the past. Although women have come a long way
since the days before the women’s suffrage movement, women still do not have completely equal opportunities as men in
today’s society. I would love to see a
society where it would not be surprising to have a woman as president. Obviously
some progress still needs to be made before that can happen, but women’s new opportunities
in the military is a sign that shows that the U.S. is still moving in the right
direction.
