TEDxSalford

Women in Battle

The role of females in the armed forces and of women in battle has always courted controversy, with many men believing that women do not have the physiological or psychological make up for battle, so their roles, if any, were limited to medical and technological (the latter only after the second world war). Even today, in what we consider more open minded times there are still questions about a woman’s place on the battle field. The British Army has had women serving in non-combat roles sporadically since the 1600’s but it is only in the last 50-60 years that women have been allowed a freer choice of roles. The USA have only this year overturned a ruling to allow women on to the frontline and into combat roles.

There are many excuses people give as to why women should not be in the armed forces at all let alone be in combat roles. Many of them feel that the reaction of men to women would be on the whole a negative experience. They feel that issues such as relationships among soldiers, men treating the women differently (reacting differently when someone is injured) and the disruption of the ‘brothers at arms’ atmosphere would cause huge problems within troops. Rape at the hands of the enemy is another issue that people have used to stop women serving in combat roles. Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum with the US Army has this to say on the matter:

“[the assault]ranks as unpleasant; that’s all it ranks….everyone’s made such a big deal about this indecent assault, but the only thing that makes it indecent is that it was nonconsensual. I asked myself, ‘Is it going to prevent me from getting out of here? Is there a risk of death attached to it? Is it permanently disabling? Is it permanently disfiguring? Lastly, is it excruciating?’ If it doesn’t fit one of those five categories, then it isn’t important.

There’s a phenomenal amount of focus on this for the women but not for the men,”

Cornum brings up an important point in that men are at just at risk for such acts and that there are many other methods of torture that can happen when at the hands of the enemy. Women have proven time and time again that they are just as capable as men when it comes to the armed forces just as they are equal in all things, we need only look to history to see the proof.

The laws against women serving in combat in almost all countries has not stopped a large number of women from doing their part, even if they had to use some unorthodox methods to do so. The website tvtropes.org notes a trope (normally in reference to fiction but it is also appropriate for real life) called ‘Polly Oliver’ which is a reference to the folk song called “Sweet Polly Oliver”, the phrase Polly Oliver refers to a woman who joins the armed forces whilst disguised as a man.

“As sweet Polly Oliver lay musing in bed,

A sudden strange fancy came into her head.

“Nor father nor mother shall make me false prove,

I’ll ‘list as a soldier, and follow my love.”

 

Looking back through history, there are a great deal of women who did this,some to follow their men, some because they were more comfortable as men but most because they wanted to fulfil a certain position and dressing as a man was the only way to achieve equal status and follow the paths that they wanted to take

Here are just some of the fascinating women whose tales have passed through history though it is likely there are hundreds if not thousands more who did similar things.

Mulan

The most famous story of a woman dressing as a man to go to war is that of Mulan. Her story is best known as a Disney film but it based on the true tale of Hua Mulan who lived (at best estimate) between 386 to 534AD in ancient China. Mulan took men’s clothes and joined the army to save her elderly father from having to fight. The story was first transcribed in the 6^th century as the Ballad of Mulan and has passed down in different formats for centuries. It tells of Hua Mulan who joined the army for 12 years in the place of her father:

“Ask her of whom she thinks, Ask her for whom she longs.

“There is no one I think of, There is no one I long for.

Last night I saw the army notice, The khan is calling a great draft.

A dozen volumes of battle rolls, Each one with my father’s name.

My father has no grown-up son, And I have no elder brother.

I’m willing to buy a horse and saddle, To go to battle in my father’s place.”

Her true gender was not discovered in all those years:

“’We travelled twelve years together, Yet didn’t realize Mulan was a lady!’”

The male rabbit is swifter of foot, The eyes of the female are somewhat smaller.

But when the two rabbits run side by side, How can you tell the female from the male?”

She achieved high praise and honours from the Emperor for her abilities as a soldier but turned down a role of high status to return to her family. It is not until that her friends come to visit her at home that they discover her true gender. The poem shows support for gender equality which is refreshing to see in literature from this period.

Nadezhda Durova

 

 

Nadezhda Durova was a remarkable woman who served with the Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic wars (1803-1815). Born in Kiev in 1783, Durova knew at a young age that she did not want to follow the typical path a woman was supposed to lead in Russia at the time. Growing up with her father (a Major in the Russian army) in army camps amongst soldiers and guns she saw different way to live. She did not associate herself and her abilities with what she was supposed to be like as a woman as was forced upon her as she grew older.

At the age of 24 she ran away to disguise herself as a man under the name of Alexander Sokolov and join the cavalry of which she served for 10 years. Her autobiography, “The Cavalry Maiden” documents her fascinating and exciting life as a soldier including meeting the Tsar who eventually knew her real gender and also gave her a knew pseudonym ‘Alexandrov’ to keep her identity a secret.

Though her autobiography has mostly been verified as true, there is one glaring omission from her book that has mystified historians since. In her book she claims that she ran away to the army at 16 rather than 24, she also omits that she left behind a husband and son when she disappeared to the cavalry. It is understandable why she would leave out a lively painful part of her life but it does not help on the full authenticity of the rest of her story.

Her autobiography is not only a rare example of a memoir of a female soldier but also one of the few accounts of the Napoleonic Wars from the view of a junior officer and also one of the earliest accounts of a Russian autobiography.

Hannah Snell

 

Hannah Snell also wrote an autobiography of her exploits named “Hannah Snell – The Secret Life of a Female Marine” which became hugely popular. The book can found at the moment in a great package alongside the biographies of fellow female marines Mary Lacy and Mary Ann Talbot.

When Hannah Snell’s husband abandoned her in 1746 just after the death of their child she took her brother’s clothes and name – James Gray – and went to search for him. She moved to Portsmouth and boarded the HMS Swallow in 1747 and went on to take part in the battle of Pondicherry as well as the battle of Devicotta in 1748 and 1749 respectively. In the latter battle she was wounded on both her legs and groin. She got her leg wounds treated but somehow managed to treat her groin wound herself and managed to keep her gender a secret throughout. In 1750 she returned to England where she learnt that her husband had been executed for murder.

At this point she revealed her identity and was still granted a pension for her war injuries which at the time was almost unheard of. After this she wrote her book and took to the stage with her own show dressed in her military uniform.

She remarried twice and had a son after she retired however towards the end of her life she was committed to Bedlam and died there at the age of 86. It seems that it was likely to have been tertiary syphilis contract from her first husband that caused her problems.

The first recorded black woman to serve with the Royal Navy was a woman from Grenada who went under the alias William Brown. It was claimed that she had been in service ten years and eventually captain of the fore-top on the HMS Queen Charlotte though this unfortunately turns out not to be true. Following the records, she boarded in Granada, aged 21 and was then discharged a month later when they discovered her gender.

There have also been numerous women who fought alongside men but without the need for disguise (mostly though not always due to their already high status). Joan of Arc is a prominent figure who fought alongside as well as leading men into war and strategising the battles. Many before and after her claim that women do not have heads for battle which is baffling after the obvious success of Joan of Arc who proved that it just simply isn’t true. Like all that women I mentioned before, Joan of Arc proved herself an equal of her male counterparts and a skilful leader of war. Many Queens have also led their men into battle like Boudica, Catherine the Great and Elizabeth the First amongst many others. Antonia Fraser’s book “The Warrior Queens” is an excellent book on this subject and documents the great female leaders of history.

The subject of women dressing as men to gain their equality in the military has been touched upon in many formats. In ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, Éowyn disguises herself as a man to fight with the Riders of Rohan to protect her people and gain equal status as a warrior. She has a decisive part in the battle as she kills the Witch-king and proves her valour. Terry Pratchett’s book “Monstrous Regiment” takes it name from the 16^th century anti-Catholic tract called “The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women”. The main character disguises herself as a man to join the army where upon she finds out that the other men in her regiment are also women dressed as men.

Samus Aran, a character from the game Metroid was assumed to be a male character as soldiers dressed in big suits of armour were always assumed to be so. The assumption that all competent soldiers are male was wrong as at the end of the first game it was proven that the main character was actually a woman. It is great for this character to have been female as it gives a positive model to the idea of a woman as an equal part of any armed forces.

Women have no need to prove themselves in war any longer as it is quite clear that they are just as capable as men in the same positions. It seems ridiculous that in this modern age a woman still may not be able to take whatever position she wishes in the army. If a woman wants fight on the front line or take dangerous missions as a marine then she has every right to go through same training and the same positions as a man has. The world is slowly turning around to this truth and it will be another step for true equality.