
The breaking down of gender roles has sparked many questions on gender equality and the creation of a more evolved society. Gender equality, "refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys" ("OSAGI Gender Mainstreaming - Concepts and Definitions."). Equality of the sexes has started many national debates, whether it be concerning equal pay, job opportunities, or military service. Women's involvement in the military has already made huge strides; for example, the Pentagon opened all combat roles to women in 2013 (McGuire). However, with these improvements comes the question of women's obligation to serve. The Selective Service System was established under the Military Selective Service Act. The MSSA goes into detail about the obligations young men have to register for the draft. The draft in America has not be used since the Vietnam War, but men are still required to register from ages 18-26. While the Pentagon has control over the military in regards to women's job opportunities, the federal government has to make the final decision on the constitutionality of requiring women to register along with men. If women were required to register for the draft, then gender equality would be more attainable in the military and in general.

Most men in the more physically demanding combat roles in the special operations divisions of the military believe that women do not have the physical or mental capabilities required for certain roles. Rand Corporation, a nonprofit organization that collects research to improve policymaking, conducted a voluntary survey of almost 2,000 men in special operations jobs. They were asked primarily about women and their possible involvement in these special operations forces. The results of the survey were overwhelmingly similar in that men do not think that their team would work as cohesively if women were included. One surveyor explained that if he or another soldier was wounded and bleeding out, a woman could not drag the soldier to safety (Baldor). Men in these special operation teams are not concerned with gender equality, "Gender equality is not a question when the bullets are flying." (Baldor). When asked if women would be treated the same if they earned a spot onto a special operations force, 60% of the men surveyed responded that the women would still be treated unfairly. The results of the Rand survey develops the idea that including women in the draft would not ensure equality as hypothesized. Other viewpoints were expressed through the survey. One anonymous respondent saw the inclusion of women in the draft and in special operations forces to be inevitable. If women were to be included in the draft, there is no guarantee that they would even serve because the military has been relying volunteers for over 40 years. 

Government officials and military generals say that since the Pentagon opened up all combat roles to women, opening up the Selective Service System to include women, "would represent another step in the military's shift toward viewing men and women as equals." (Schmidt). Military generals also want women to register for the draft to get more women to think about military as a possible path in their life. In regards to the Military Selective Service System, Richard H. Kohn, professor of military history at the University of North Carolina said that, "If you are going to levy that on men, you better levy it on women," and "Every occupation in the military is open to women, so they should have equal obligation to serve." (Schmidt). There are some concerns on how to carry out the draft if women were to be included in the future, but as of now there are no final decisions being made. In this case only Congress or the Supreme Court can make a change to include women in the draft. The fight for gender equality would require a push from the Supreme Court to move forward with equality in the military. 

The constitutionality of excluding women from registering through the Selective Service System was upheld in the Supreme Court case Rostker v. Goldberg. The case was brought up in the Supreme Court because it questioned if the exclusion of women from the Military Selective Service Act was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution. The Equal Protection Clause, found in the Fourteenth Amendment, "prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" ("Equal Protection"). The Supreme Court decided that excluding women from the Military Selective Service Act was not in violation of the Equal Protection Clause due to the fact that in 1981 not all combat roles were open to women. However with recent changes through the Pentagon, the Supreme Court's decision is in need of review. McGuire, writer for the Alabama Law Review, believes that if the case were to be revisited, "the MSSA's exclusion of women from the draft to be unconstitutional". The reasoning behind the decision in Rostker v. Goldberg, was "not based on traditional notions of the proper role of women" (McGuire). However, "the problem with this rationale is that the Court did not consider that the exclusion of women from combat was itself due to the traditional roles of women in society." (McGuire). Breaking gender stereotypes is one of the first steps to reforming gender equality. Using the same rationale as the Supreme Court in 1981, including women in the draft would push towards gender equality not only in the military but in other places as well. 

The question of whether to include women in the Selective Service System has become a commonly debated topic. Gender roles are being broken in multiple ways and many believe that it is time for the military to observe them. Gender equality took a huge leap when the Pentagon opened up the military jobs to women that had been traditionally held by only men. Men in some of the more dangerous and hands-on jobs pay no regard to gender equality in the military and focus solely on the individual's ability to perform the job. High ranking military officials want to see change in the draft system to include women. Jurisdiction falls into the hands of Congress on this issue. 


