Comments on a simple man,chasing his destiny...: Why girls are not in army?

i believe when girls are believed to be emotionall...

2009-11-17T15:42:59.331+08:00

i believe when girls are believed to be emotionally dependent, it is sometimes attributed to the fact that the hormonal balance between male testerone and female oestrogen in each and everyone of us.

Women need oestrogen and progesterone for reproductive purpose. At the same time, it affects the mood of women. Of course we cant blame this biological fact for such social phenomena.

These NS activities could be one of the possible factors to contributing to higher lvl of testerone regardless of magnitude. I highly doubt women in army would be emotionally dependent and at the same time, some guys are emotionally dependent too due to higher lvl of female hormones in them.

Yeas. There's still pretty much gender stereotype in singapore i suppose.

very true Sophie! that is one long essay you wrote...

2009-11-11T11:34:13.782+08:00

very true Sophie! that is one long essay you wrote. Regardless the social structure when Singapore began, men should still be the one to step forward and be counted for. As for the last line of your comment, that kinna bring me back to women being emotionally dependent. you don't think so??

Third reason, yet another latent function from the...

2009-11-10T00:52:27.578+08:00

Third reason, yet another latent function from the patriachal values, it is to regulate male aggressiveness. You might think it sounds stupid under the social essay of Kenneth paul Tan, political aggressiveness of oppositional politics is truncated and then streamed into a disciplined and regimented space: National service. All by fostering loyalty to the country, brotherhood and a sense of identity, belonging etc. And again.. another assumption of men: aggressiveness is innate. This instrument of political repression is rather tricky, harsh and rather smart for the government to implement.

I know it is very unfair for guys to be in NS while girls are not.
It is true that girls can sign up for military service voluntarily. However since back in the 60s, with such government regulation in line with their values and pragmatic economic reasons, I am pretty sure up till now, singapore society is still pretty paternalistic. So, do you think it is 'conducive' eoough to motivate girls to be part of NS project? I highly doubt so. It take decades to even eradicate this 'unfairness'.

True that maybe it is an investment based on male and female characteristic. But we do have to bear in mind, at the end of the day it is still a social construct.

of course at the end of the day, do we really want to conscript girls into the army? Not unless you want to see high level of accidental deaths, complains and EVEN LOWER birth rate. (:

:) CHEERIOS

I feel that it is unfair to generalize girls to be...

2009-11-10T00:38:59.329+08:00

I feel that it is unfair to generalize girls to be emotionally more attached. This social construct has been instilled for such a long time that we thought it is rigorously proven that it is innate in females to be that way. It is the way on how we want to maintain at its status quo: men in power.

If you observed, Singapore government is generally paternalistic and authoritative.

The first reason that National Service is instilled during independence was that we had to defend ourselves militarily. Men had to go NS because singapore population is small to begin with. We cannot afford men to go on conscription like how USA military works: we might end up having a small cohort. In the US, assuming that the chances of women signing up for military life is the same as in singapore, the population of women in the army will still be higher than in singapore.

The second reason, which is latent, is that back then the strong perpetuation of the paternalistic view of a nuclear family. Assumption of men being stronger in physique, the man of the household, the breadwinner and the many paternistic views of men; women to be more nurturing, soft, subservient in this nuclear family model were greatly upheld (even up till now). Women stay home to nurture their kids and do home econs in general as seen from educational policies and even national policies on family planning.

I just tell them that guys are a general better in...

2009-11-01T00:24:33.995+08:00

I just tell them that guys are a general better investment for defence-related matters due to our general biological differences. Of course, I'm making many generalizations here!

OMG I AM IN YOUR BLOG!!! and HELLO JING SONG!

2009-10-31T22:39:05.254+08:00

OMG I AM IN YOUR BLOG!!! and HELLO JING SONG!

Jing Song! Yes, some of the cadets we know are ama...

2009-10-31T11:30:46.871+08:00

Jing Song! Yes, some of the cadets we know are amazing! I always thought they could take over my place,hahaha!

So what do you tell your friends when they asked aren't girls part of the nation?

Many people in the US are quite astonished when I ...

2009-10-31T10:18:49.418+08:00

Many people in the US are quite astonished when I tell them that only guys have to serve the nation. The common response is: "Aren't girls part of the nation as well?"

Nonetheless, I think that we shouldn't pass blanket judgements based on sex. I mean, we've both come across remarkable female cadets and officers, and I must take my hat off to them for voluntarily serving a cause many guys are compelled to answer.