Can anybody explain to me why Men are required to sign up for the draft and women are not?

DaneWhitman · 2015-09-15T23:22:44+00:00

The short answer is that in 1981 the Supreme Court ruled that since women were not allowed to serve in combat roles, they were not "similarly situated" with men for the purposes of a draft, and thus excluding them from registration could pass an Equal Protection analysis.

The Department of Defense recently announced a change in policy with regard to women in combat, with all roles expected to be opened to women by this coming January. This changes the underlying facts of that 1981 Supreme Court case and opens the door for another round of litigation early next year, offering the first real chance to overturn the Selective Service law, as currently written, in 35 years.

There are currently two active lawsuits against the Selective Service law. One that was filed by the National Coalition for Men in 2013, but was dismissed on the grounds of "ripeness, " as the suit was filed after the Pentagon announced the policy change, but before the completion of the integration of women into combat roles (to be completed by January 2016). This case is currently under appeal in the 9th Circuit.

A second lawsuit was filed by a girl in New Jersey this past summer. She argues that her rights are being violated by not being allowed/required to register.

There could always be more lawsuits as well. My state ACLU chapter said late last year when I contacted them over this issue, that the ACLU would assist with litigation again when women were fully integrated into combat roles next year. Here is an article, written shortly after the Pentagon announced the policy change, that considered how the change would affect the Selective Service law.

Tl;dr: The Supreme Court upheld the law a long time ago. The impending integration of women into combat roles presents the first real chance to challenge the law in 35 years.

Edit: I've done a lot of research on this issue over the years, so feel free to ask any other questions you have about the law if I didn't answer them in my original comment.

jtaylor73003 · 2015-09-15T23:13:32+00:00

To be fair, there are a decent number of feminists who agree with you, but they look at it as society treating them as lesser by not requiring them to be drafted.

This suit came up here a while back.

xynomaster · 2015-09-15T23:22:25+00:00

Because women's lives are worth more than men's.

People are moderately okay with sending their sons off to die horrible deaths but are petrified at the thought of anything bad happening to their "baby girls". If given the choice, people would rather their son die than their daughter.

The only way to change this is basically to forcibly draw people's attentions to the equality issue, hopefully with a court ruling the discrimination unconstitutional. IMO this is the #1 men's rights issue in the Western world at the moment. I'm sure I'll get a hundred people telling me "It's no big deal it hasn't been used in ages" but forcing men to sign a list saying the state can kill them whenever it wants is pretty much the embodiment of male disposability, even if the state isn't choosing to use it right now.

TheFacelessMany · 2015-09-15T22:59:58+00:00

In a word...

Momentum

The law changes slowly. Tbh, I'd be fine with male only conscription if only men could vote.

2015-09-16T01:02:20+00:00

Get a Chronic illness, I can't be drafted because I'd shit myself ( literally ) on the field of battle or in the tank or on the bombs... They literally won't take me.

Title	Can anybody explain to me why Men are required to sign up for the draft and women are not?
Author	millerw
Upvotes	11
Comments	25
Date	September 15, 2015 10:55 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/3l3o1p/can_anybody_explain_to_me_why_men_are_required_to/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/can-anybody-explain-to-me-why-men-are-required-to.971274 https://theredarchive.com/post/971274

Comments