Suffrage and the Psyche


I’ve always considered myself to be progressive when it comes to issues of sexual and racial equality. Listening to the news a few minutes ago, they reported that another Canadian soldier has died in combat over in Afghanistan. I support our troops 110%, regardless of my political opinion of the mission. Each time I hear of one of our own being killed leaves me feeling for the soldier’s family and friends and a gratefulness that the fallen were willing to serve in the name of our country. Today’s news, however, had an extra sting to it in that the fallen soldier was a woman.

Woman in combat has been a contentious issue for some time. My own reaction to hearing that the fallen soldier was female demonstrates an instinct that exists deep in my psyche. I wonder why? Is it because I have a daughter and am protective of my wife and family? I know that it doesn’t represent a feeling that women are not capable of such roles. I proudly serve with several stellar female Officers in the men’s maximum security prison where I work, doubting their abilities no more than I might many of the males Officers with whom I work. My sister-in-law is also proving herself to be an excellent Officer in the British Army. No, I feel, perhaps, that it is men who are not capable of having women in such roles.

So what does this say about the role of gender in our society? I know that we have been re-educating ourselves with programmes such as affirmative action and constantly challenging our assumptions. Is this working or has it been reviled by either a sense of being manipulated and coerced by political correctness? Are we failing, as a society, to address the issue of gender equality at an intra-psychic/ inter-personal/group level? I know that many have viewed things like affirmative action to simply be failed attempts of universal suffrage and have resulted in having lesser qualified individuals in certain positions due to gender/race. I agree with this to a degree, but also acknowledge that the first step toward equality required a rather messy entrance in a world where women couldn’t even vote 60 years before its implementation. I admit to being critical, for example, when men and women have different fitness standards to do the same job, whether that be a Police Officer, Firefighter, Soldier, etc. The whole ‘P.C.’ wave has made some ridiculous splashes along its route to shore. So often we do see the Orwellian practise of “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. That, sadly, are some of the negatives in accomplishing a greater moral good. You’ve got to break a few eggs to bake a cake, right? What’s important is that we, as a society, don’t become distracted by these shortcomings and strive toward the goal of genuine equality.

In closing, I just want to tip my hat to all women, regardless of vocation, and apologise as I am still a work in progress! My condolences to the families of all our fallen troops – their spirit lives on in all that we represent as a nation!