This is the first installment in the weekly Honored Role Series. Odessa Maxwell is the story of a soldier turned poet. A study of complexities…
Real Leaders | Real Life
January 20, 2009 dawned as a day filled with anticipation, excitement, hope and celebration as Barack Obama was sworn into office as our 44th president. It was a great day for America. And for most of it, with the exception of a workout, I sat planted firmly in front of a television with laptop and blackberry flipping between channels and websites in search of substance.
The topic of women in combat remains controversial. Conventional wisdom and current law prevent women, no matter how able, from serving in units with direct offensive combat missions — Infantry, Armor, Artillery and Special Forces. The justifications for this exclusion include that women are not fit for combat and battlefield stress because they lack the emotional stability and physical strength. The media has often proffered that American’s would not stand to see their daughters coming home in body bags, missing limbs or badly disfigured. The purported fear and outcry of a woman’s violent death from enemy fire has not materialized during the war on terror. The deaths of women soldiers have provoked no more and no less reaction than the deaths of male soldiers. In reality, the strained Armed Forces need women in the fight. Circumstances have eclipsed arguments, and few in the military and government are anxious to rekindle the debate.
Often I encourage young girls as well as my middle-aged friends to always be on the look out for women role models. Role models provide…
It’s a bad girl’s world and good role models for young girls are difficult to find, or so the media would have us believe. Americans are bombarded with images of women to sell everything from beer to cars. Meanwhile, young women searching for role models may have difficulty seeing past the “sex sells” mentality that ties a woman’s worth to her looks.