thoma@reed.UUCP (Ann Muir Thomas) (07/13/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** It seems to me that I read an article in a radical Jewish women's magazine about the current status of women in the Israeli army. As I recall, at first the women were doing almost exactly the same thing as the men, because Israel was at war constantly. After a few years, when things had (temporarily) died down there, women began to regard military service with a jaded eye. The military supposedly became the worst place for a young Israeli woman to be-- the sexual harassment that went on would make the "corporate bedroom" scene of America look mild. Also, women were no longer in combat; they mainly did clerical work and served coffee to the officers. Supposedly many women desperately tried to get married before they were called into the service, because marriage either eliminated or reduced the time they would have to serve. This was a fairly old article; I have no idea what is going on with Israeli women these days. With the amount of strife the Israeli military is involved in, are they having to use women in combat again? (As a sidelight, apparently the Iranians are so short of males for their army that the Iranian women are coming out of purdah to fight (still wearing the chador, however.) Ann Muir Thomas "Welcome to the Pleasuredome...." --FGTH These opinions are mine, and Reed College will not be held responsible for them.