Let me be blunt: Allowing pregnant women, or new mothers, to remain in
any military academy is just plain stupid.
The summer of 1976 brought sweeping changes to the nation’s military
academies. Women were admitted as freshman students for the first time
in history. The nation and the military watched as 174 years of
tradition fell before the feminist onslaught and the “realities” of modern
society. The feminists wanted us to believe all was for the better – but some things changed which shouldn’t have.
Physical standards were lowered, the climate on the campuses softened, and
there were obvious distractions brought on due to the presence of females
on a previous all-male campus. But there were other not-so-obvious changes
being made that may have been far more profound.
The mission of the United States Naval Academy, for example, used to be, “To
prepare young men morally, mentally, and physically to be professional
officers in the naval service.” I know that the words “and women” have been
added, but the inclusion of those words did not displace the part about
morals. Morals are an important component of judgment, and judgment clearly
is what the pregnant young woman at any military academy lacks.
We should not allow the policies of our fine military institutions to be
compromised from ever more demands by the flaming, radical feminists and
other untoward elements of our society. The character of those who would lead
others in war – including wars against terrorists and terrorist nations – must be stellar.
In times past, parenthood was a conduct offense at our academies. For that
matter, so was sexual activity outside of marriage. Since cadets and
midshipmen couldn’t be married, parenthood was prima facie evidence of
unacceptable conduct – “conduct unbecoming an officer.”
Now the feminists are screaming that pregnant cadets at the Virginia
Military Institute should be allowed to stay in school. Never mind that
these women broke a pledge they signed not to become pregnant. Never mind
that everyone knows a pregnant woman is, at times, an emotional-hormonal
wreck. Never mind that the pregnant body is … cumbersome. And never
mind that motherhood is more than just a temporary distraction.
Many of these so-called “female liberators” would have us believe that
pregnancy is nothing more than a medical disability. Excuse me? A broken
arm is a medical disability. A fractured skull is a medical disability.
Pregnancy is not a medical disability – it is a challenging but precious
state, that only females experience, when the body is nurturing the
development of another human being. Of course, if the feminists
acknowledged this one simple fact, then their arguments for abortion
wouldn’t work. No, they have to view pregnancy as a “disability” in order
to maintain that the “matter” the pregnancy is centered around is nothing
more than a blob of tissue.
It’s a tragedy that only makes America weaker when our military male
officers (and now women) in training are no longer held responsible for
their behavior and conduct. Officers are supposed to be the leaders.
Service academy cadets are supposed to be the elite of their generation.
We once expected – and still should expect – them to hold to the highest
standards of personal honor. For four long, hard years our nation should
demand that these men (and, OK, now women) learn and practice
self-restraint, self-discipline, mental toughness and physical strength.
It’s in the interest of national security that the military co-eds behave
differently from the co-eds on your average college campus. But in the
interest of political correctness, their standards are becoming nothing
more than ordinary.
When the military institutions were only men, if one was found to have
fathered a child – boom! – he was out. Now, not only can female students
become pregnant, but they are permitted – at all the academies except VMI – to return to their places the year following the birth of their child.
This means that the officers in training at the finest and most elite institutions in the world are sometimes mothers, single mothers. Although policy requires that no student have “legal dependents,” this does not erase the fact that the women we’re talking about experienced pregnancy, gave birth to their own child, and will forever be emotionally and psychologically changed because of it. Giving up custody of a child does not erase the mother instinct, and only further complicates the moral, psychological and emotional issues for women in this unique situation. To place new mothers back in rigorous academy training is absurd.
Let’s review: Prior to the summer of 1976, our service academies were
composed of the cream of the crop – our nation’s brightest, most
disciplined, most honorable young men expected to adhere to a moral code
of ethics and honor befitting a U.S. military officer. We allowed women to
enter the military academies (which wasn’t supposed to change anything).
We have now digressed to the point where we allow them to break the honor
code, break their pledge, act like sex-driven co-eds on any other campus,
have babies out of wedlock and still retain their coveted positions in our
military academies.
Instead of demanding the time-honored training
process of adherence to strict discipline, and concentration on refining
character, we have permitted radical organizations to radically lower the
standards of excellence necessary to produce the finest officers to lead
us into war.
The feminists pretended in 1976 that nothing would change. VMI is
attempting to hold on to common sense, decency and sound military training
policy in the face of extreme pressure from these pretenders. The
feminists’ arguments are fraught with lies, and their true agenda is not
the promotion of “female equality,” but total and complete sexual
immorality and selfishness.
The “non-judgmental,” “my body, my career, my choice” world they have
forced on our military – and society in general – has displaced honor, our
future national security, and even truth. God bless VMI!
