PENGHAPUSAN COMBAT EXCLUSION POLICY 1994: SEBUAH PROGRES PENCAPAIAN HAK PEREMPUAN DI AMERIKA SERIKAT

Abstract

It has been the main agenda of the feminist movement since its inception in the early 20th century United States to equalize legal rights between women and men. Last year, the movement succeeded to bring down one of the last federal glass ceilings remained in the U.S. that was undermining and disadvantaging women, named Combat Exclusion Policy 1994. Under the policy, women in the military were not allowed to fill combat positions as they were considered less capable than men, physically and psychologically. The policy further acted as a discriminative policy in which female soldiers were not given the equal opportunity as their male counterparts to receive promotions and achieve career advancement, especially the in senior rank level. When many years of struggles have finally paid off, the repeal of combat exclusion policy 1994 then raises a perfectly good question of ‗what‘s next‘. This research is aimed to analyze the further logical, rational implications of the repeal of combat exclusion policy 1994 towards American women‘s rights, especially those living in the U.S. Millitary Institution. This research will explain first the character of the policy and use it as a parameter to analyze and calculate the further implications. Secondly, this research will explain the implications of the repeal of combat exclusion policy 1994 in three dimensions of American women‘s life; social dimension, political dimension, and national defense dimension. This research is based on the notion of liberal feminist theory which believes in the representation and integration of women in all public sectors, including the military, supported by legal protection from the government to end gender inequality and women‘s oppression. Therefore, this research furthermore will not only provide the debate about whether or not U.S. should allow women to join combat units, but also provide the debate among feminist groups itselves about whether or not women in combat will mutually exclusive create gender equality.