Just as cultures vary widely throughout the world, so do their perceptions of the roles women should perform in their armed forces. Many cultures that traditionally have excluded women from male-dominated occupations— Saudi Arabia, for example—may find it inappropriate for women to serve in the military. Some cultures that place less emphasis on gender roles—Zambia, for example—do not have the same reluctance to enlist servicewomen in the nation’s defense. Most nations fall somewhere in the middle ground. The United States is among the nations that continue to struggle over the question of how best to use women in the armed forces. Usually this struggle is a reflection of each nation’s social struggle over the appropriate roles of men and women.

The Need for Women Soldiers

In wartime...