Drafting Women

FAIN: FT-278474-21

Kara Dixon Vuic
Texas Christian University (Fort Worth, TX 76129-0001)

Research for a book on the history of public debates about gender and military conscription in the United States. 

The United States is on the cusp of making one of the most significant changes to American society in the nation’s history: drafting women. Although women have voluntarily served in the military throughout American history, the government has never required them to risk their lives for their country. That exclusion from compulsory military service has had far-reaching consequences for women’s legal standing, economic opportunities, and citizenship. Requiring women to register for Selective Service will remove the last major legal distinction between the obligations and benefits of citizenship for men and women. Drafting Women will provide the necessary historical background for an informed public discussion about what that decision means. The question of drafting women is, at its heart, a question about what it means to serve in the military. It is a question about the relationship between military service and full citizenship. It is a question about what it means to be an American.