Quote:
Originally posted by PornoDoggy@Sep 13 2004, 11:45 AM
Colin ... would be interested in what you are basing your assertion that American women are "more supportive" of war today.
Using Vietnam as some sort of benchmark in comparisson to the Iraqi escapades seems very problematic to me. I doubt very seriously that there is a significant differnece in the levels of support for Vietnam (by gender or otherwise) before 1968 compared to the battle to liberate Kuwait or the war of occupation in Iraq.
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I see your point.
After further review it really matters when you take the snapshot and pretty impossible to really compare. If you look at the polls in the aftermath in the months after 9/11 the support for military action amongst women was much higher than the normal difference. Also true at the beginning of the Iraq war but not later.
But back to CJ's assertion, in what way are women "progressing" on this subject? Seems to be a wash at minimum.
Some random findings which pretty much lead to "no conclusion" ...
"Men and women are about equally likely to support military retaliation for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. This is a different pattern from what has been the case historically, when men have been more likely than women to favor military action." – Gallup
http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=4963
“Over the past four decades, Gallup polling has shown that men generally favor military action more than women do. In the case of a possible war with Iraq, this gender gap has varied considerably, and is now at a modest five percentage points.” – Gallup
http://www.gallup.com/poll/content/login.aspx?ci=7243
“NEW YORK — Conventional wisdom would have women leaning a little pacifist when it comes to armed conflict, but the war on terror is shattering that stereotype. Recent polls are showing American women are more supportive now than in any other conflict in modern history. Unlike in earlier conflicts, when polling showed far more men than women in favor of war, 87 percent of women and 88 percent of men in a recent Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll said they support President Bush's war on terror. Only 73 percent of men and 59 percent of women told Gallup pollsters they supported the war in Vietnam during its early day”
http://www.warroom.com/womenrally.htm
“A Gallup poll taken one week before the first Persian Gulf War began showed that 67 percent of men but only 45 percent of women supported a military attack against Iraq.”
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0227-07.htm
“Seventy-eight percent of men favor the war, compared with 66% of women -- a 12-percentage-point gap. Gender gaps have traditionally been evident in support for military action, although those gaps have narrowed in the post-Sept. 11 world. However, the current difference in support by gender is nearly identical to what it was at the beginning of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Then, a 10-point gap existed, as 86% of men and 76% of women approved of the United States' decision to go to war with Iraq to drive the Iraqis out of Kuwait.”
http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Features...28GallupWar.htm