Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1063803 in Books
• Published on: 1989-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 232 pages

Customer Reviews

A great book
As a Navy Officer I have seen first hand the effect of women on ships. Ships have become floating brothels. Officer and enlisted fraternization has skyrocekted, and the chain of command has turned their head. My last ship a female officer who was married had sex with over 10 of her enlisted personnel. Now you tell me does this effect the chain of command, and should this be happening in the Navy. Abortions, illegitimate children are the results of placing men and women together on ships. Basically both man and woman have to be held acountable in these situations. It is a problem we will have to deal with, but unfortunately the chain of command was indoctrinated during the Clinton Political Correctness of the 90's. Nothing is going to happen, and it is becoming official policy on ships to allow fraternization as long as it does not affect the ship to much. Good Grief. Liberals have won this one.

On The Money
I believe that Mitchell is correct in his assessment of the impact women have on our military force. The net result is a big negative. I am a veteran of combat arms and my modest experiences confirm every wit of his arguments. There are so many levels of impact to consider and I think he covers most of the bases. This is not a female issue, or at least it shouldn't be. This is a matter of national security. The U.S.Army has a handful of problems to deal with, and this is just one. I highly recommend this book.

Flimsy nonsense
Mitchell's book makes no claim to be an objective or academic study, and it's a good thing. In fact, Mitchell's only stated purpose is "to tell how sexual integration of the military has not worked the way our military leaders say it has." Since Mitchell provides few footnotes or references to support his statements, this book might, at best, be called "one man's opinion." More accurately, this book might be called a collection of patronizing, unsupported, parochial, misogynistic hot air.

Take the title, for starters. The "feminization" of the American military? This is hardly a supportable characterization of the military overall. Apply the same logic to the increase in the number of racial minorities in the service: would anyone agree to publish a book subtitled, "The Blackening of the American Military?" Do people refer to the "masculinization" of the nursing or teaching professions because men have entered these fields?

Mitchell writes with blinders on. He's completely unaware of the historical experience of other countries. Before we make judgments about what we think women *should* do in the military, based on a few years' of peacetime experience, we should know *what has actually happened* in wartime. A study of the Russian experience in the Second World War and of women who fought during the Vietnam War is a good starting point.

As a professional historian and a former military officer, I am appalled that anyone would take this book seriously.