Picture this: I’m having my yearly eye appointment with my doctor, and we’re discussing the recent news about those two women who made it into the Army Rangers program. I said I had been elated to hear it, and I thought it was about time the military realized women were just as valuable an asset as men to our nation’s defense.
He smiled and said, in a rather patronizing tone, “Well, sure, but I don’t think I’d want to be the guys by their side. I mean, those Rangers have to be really tough, ready to do sharp shooting and hand to hand combat with, like, knives and stuff. I hope they give those women testosterone shots, so they’ll have the same drive to kill as the men.”
I stared at him, open-mouthed, not sure how to reply. “Have you ever seen a woman give birth?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you have no idea how tough and determined women can be.”
I left it at that and the conversation continued to more optical topics. But the dialogue stayed with me. If my doctor was saying things like that, what did the general population think? Do we really still have these Betty Crocker notions about gender roles based on popular science?
Let’s look at the facts. Yes, men, on average, produce about 8 to 10 times more testosterone in their adrenal systems than women. Women have their own sources too, though, as both testosterone and estrogen are produced by the ovaries. Testosterone lends itself to libido in both sexes, and levels of it increase with physical exertion, especially regular exercise. High levels of testosterone have been linked to a greater inclination toward anger and leaner body mass.
Here’s the catch, though. Adrenaline occurs in both men and women.
The well-known hormone is produced in an area near the kidneys in response to stress, triggering the whole “fight or flight” response. It works the same way in both sexes, testosterone has little to do with the situation.
It appears to me that in down-to-the-wire military situations, adrenaline is the hormone you want on your side.
Not to feed too much into stereotypes, but we’ve all seen the Lifetime specials and that one episode of “Snapped” that happened right here in Pinellas Park.
History does not support women lacking the drive to kill when pushed to it.
Add to all this the established fact that women have a greater threshold of pain than men (thank you evolution and childbirth). It would seem that if a woman had trained to be able to lift the same, shoot the same, fight the same, and strategize to the level of her fellow Rangers – she would be one kick-ass person I would definitely want on my team.
Then again, I’m one of those crazy people who believes women should be given the same opportunities and treatment as men.
Not to use the F-word in a school publication, but that makes me … a feminist.
