Selective Service Is Sexist
Predictably, the whole Selective Service website reeks of nationalism. Less predictably, they don’t even try to hide the program’s ingrained sexism. From SSS.gov:
By registering, a man’s voluntary participation helps provide a hedge against unforeseen threats. It is a relatively low-cost insurance policy for our nation. […]
It’s what a man’s got to do. By registering, a young man stays eligible for jobs, college loans and grants, job training, driver’s license in most states, and U.S. citizenship for immigrant men.
The Selective Service System is a load of sexist bullshit. I bet you can't name a similar system where women must register to put their lives on the line or risk losing other rights and privileges like those withheld from men who fail to register.
If women are going to be allowed in combat roles, they should have to sign up for Selective Service. For some reason, though, we’re too politically correct now to acknowledge what everyone already knows and what science has always told us: women (generally) aren’t as physically strong as men. Yet, we pretend that they are by allowing women in combat roles where they could weaken a unit in measurable ways. The fact that the government requires men and only men to register for Selective Service acknowledges that men are physically stronger and more suited for combat than women. Period.
The argument that it’s sexist (against women) to suggest that women shouldn’t be allowed to serve in combat roles based on the notion that they simply aren’t wanted as a result of an established “boys club” in the military is a poor argument, primarily because of the physical differences that make women generally less aptly suited for combat, but for another reason as well: if you’re going to subject a group of young men to a sexist system that requires them to put their life on the line while women don’t face the same requirement, it’s not appropriate to fault them when a sort of “boys club” starts to form. While the sexism (against women) that can sometimes crop up in such “boys club” environments shouldn’t be encouraged, it’s an understandable side effect of a system where men are forced to work together in tight knit units to achieve physically and emotionally taxing goals, while women are spared from having to participate. If thinking of the military as a boys club affords those men a degree of exclusivity that helps them grapple with the sexism (against men) of their predicament, so be it.
If your biggest concern is addressing the boys club issue to make everyone feel better, true equality would mean requiring women to register. Alternatively, if you want the strongest possible military, don’t allow women in combat. If you want the best of both worlds, get rid of Selective Service completely and stick with a voluntary enlistment system where the strongest and most committed candidates will be able to join in whatever role is appropriate for them.