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Women in the Hungarian Armed Forces
The number of professional and contractual female soldiers in the Hungarian Armed Forces increased annually during the 1990s. The growth in the number of female soldiers in ensign and junior officer positions was especially noteworthy. Presently women make almost 25 percent of the officers and ensign force.
This delightful though problematic growth can be traced back to two causes. One is a significant change in the proportion (the absolute number) of civil and officer assignments in the Hungarian Armed Forces, the other the outpouring of professionals (men) from the military due to better opportunities in civilian life. The Hungarian Armed Forces must therefore cope with a situation in which not only are women soldiers assigned to positions traditionally regarded as appropriate for women but also to many traditionally male positions.
Despite the increased number of women employed in its midst, the military remains both physically and psychologically a male profession. That is, confidence, roughness, determination, endurance of physical hardships, competitiveness, the ability to make quick decisions and form opinions, lack of sentimentality, and attempting to be rational--all regarded as male characteristics--are desired. The integration of women into the military who have characteristics differing from the above or who manifest these characteristics in way alien to their sex is a task that needs special attention.
Special attention should be given not only to the woman choosing the military profession but also to the environment receiving her, with, it is hoped, self criticism and tolerance of the "other."
Sometimes this integration is problematic, due to leadership factors, especially when members of society confuse special attention with special treatment, i.e. the receiving or giving of special allowances.
Special treatment or allowances in the military are not given for "nominal claims" by the "weaker sex" but are given in special medical or social situations. Moreover, this special treatment applies to both men and women in the force. (There is only one allowance that is given to women only, i.e. one regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and child care).
There is a need for special attention, if not for special treatment, on the part of female soldiers as well as their superiors, because society and the family socialize a model that traditionally differentiates between the socializing...