Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said this week that he and President Donald Trump will reverse the depleted physical standards of U.S. military men and women in combat. This is the most feminist thing the administration has done. Recognizing the sex-based, genetically created biological differences between men and women is something feminists should celebrate.
On Monday, Hegseth announced a memo ordering that men and women be held to the same physical standards if they want to serve in combat roles. In a video he released on X, Hegseth said the United States military had allowed “standards to slip” across the board and “different standards for men and women in combat arms … and jobs.”
“That’s not acceptable,” he continued. “We need to have the same standard, male or female, in our combat roles to ensure our men and women who are under our leaders or in those formations have the best possible leaders and the highest possible standards that are not based at all on your sex. If you’re a man or a woman … soon we’ll have nothing but the highest and equal standards for men and women in combat.”
According to the New York Post, “Hegseth’s guidance says troops on the front lines should be able to ‘carry heavy loads, endure prolonged physical exertion and perform effectively in austere, hostile environments.’”
“Service members in these roles must exhibit speed, strength, agility and endurance to navigate the demands of combat situations,” the memorandum says.
So, not only is the Defense Department holding women to the same standard, which is fair, but it is ensuring that every single member of the military is the best of the best in the toughest of situations.
I can have a baby. My husband cannot. He can do a real push-up, bench-press 200 pounds without thinking about it, and carry multiple children at the same time on a hike in the Hollywood Hills. I cannot.
As a home-birth hippy who never had an epidural, I felt pretty accomplished when I had each of my babies. The hormones and adrenaline rush felt afterward made me feel like Wonder Woman (if only I looked like Gal Gadot). I mean, women can cocreate, grow, and sustain a human life. That’s definitely something men cannot and will never be able to do.
Now is an opportune time to remind you, dear reader, that men cannot be women. But also, women cannot be men.
It makes complete sense and is true equality when we recognize the unique emotional, mental, and physical strengths that differentiate men and women. We can pursue equal treatment without wrongly expecting equal outcomes.
Women tend to pursue fields where they are in organizational or nurturing-type roles, such as education and pediatrics. Men tend to do jobs such as carpentry, mechanics, and construction that women do not typically pursue. I know a plumber in Los Angeles can make upwards of $300,000 a year, but I have yet to meet a woman who wants that gig.
Feminists claim to want equality. It’s not safe for women or real equality to continue the Obama-Biden playbook of pushing women to fight in combat and lowering their standards compared to those of their male peers.
It’s not just or equitable to ignore the greater risks to women when we place them in intense military games or combat situations. Women can and do serve vital roles in the military. But it’s possible for them to play a crucial part in protecting our nation and its interests without being political pawns to the Left.
Feminism, by the dictionary definition, is equality of the sexes. Loosening standards for a woman’s physical abilities to make a political statement does not help women overall. It puts that individual woman at risk and mitigates the important role women play in society.
PETE HEGSETH PROMISES EQUAL COMBAT STANDARDS FOR MEN AND WOMEN
Pretending that a woman is stronger, faster, or more capable of passing Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school, for example, is lying to women everywhere and undermining the things we can do and handle much better than men, such as childbirth — or the common cold.
Hegseth is taking the right steps toward keeping our nation, and our nation’s women, safer and more equal.
Elisha Krauss is a conservative commentator and speaker who resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their four children. She is an advocate of women’s rights, school choice, and smaller government.