Militarization of Gender

Militarization is a societies' way of preparing for war or conflict.  This can be gendered in the way in which men and women are viewed through combat.  In Western society war is not viewed as a place for women to be, because it is seen as unfeminine and is therefore frowned upon.  I believe this contrasts the idea of women being nurturing, but follows the belief that men are inherently aggressive.   A section of the reading "Feminist Theories of War and Peace" talks about women being more reliant on groups and men being more autonomous.  The author of this piece believes that because men are taught to be more independent, may adapt men to kill in war.  I do not believe in this idea whatsoever because men who choose to participate in war, are taught to kill.  They are also taught to hate the group in which they are at combat with.  Where is the line drawn between fighting for one's country and killing innocent individuals on the bases that they live in that country, and should therefore be killed as well.  In my opinion war is conflict with violence used as a means of power control.  If women are thought to be nurturing, then of course people are going to believe that they have no place of being involved in war.  But this is a sexist belief because women can, and do fight in combat; they are no longer just nurses or a part of the clerical aspect.  According to "Towards a Gendered Understanding of Conflict" many feel as though women become "de-sexed" and are no longer looked as feminine because they fight in combat.  In my opinion this may be true for them while they are fighting, but I'm sure it does not take away from them being feminine whenever they are not fighting.  For a woman being in the armed forces, she has to be tough because it is not a norm for a woman to "fight like a man" so to speak.  Women in the military have to change their ways to not become ridiculed for fighting, but it does not take away from them being less feminine, because what truly defines someone being feminine?