Strategic advantages of women in the military

A Dutch researcher, Jolanda Bosch, conducted doctoral research on the inclusion of women in the military. She argues that solving this problem is not about simply recruiting more women into the military but about deeply reflecting on gender policy within the armed forces. Currently, masculine traits are fundamentally privileged, while feminine traits are disadvantaged, contributing to issues like sexual misconduct. This blog will argue the military-strategic benefits of adopting a balanced gender policy enriched by feminine traits instead of maintaining masculine hegemony.

Tactical Advantages

The tactical downside of masculine hegemony is that warfare becomes predominantly focused on brute force. While this can be advantageous in conventional warfare, it poses significant challenges in other types of conflict. When an army is able to gain the support of the local population, this creates huge tactical advantages.

Operational Advantages

The operational drawbacks of masculine hegemony include an overreliance on perceiving the opponent as a system, possible to decipher through mathematical models. The Air Force’s five-ring model by John Warden treated enemies as inanimate targets, assuming victory could be calculated. A better approach targets the enemy’s “centre of gravity”. Soviet General Georgy Zhukov exemplified this by using the entire Soviet society—including women as snipers, tank crews, and pilots—to pin down the superior German forces in the Battle of Stalingrad. His strategy eroded the Germans’ chances of victory and led to a monumental Soviet triumph.

Military-Strategic Advantages

Perhaps the most revolutionary advantages are at the military-strategic level. Masculine hegemony keeps the armed forces a conservative, male-dominated stronghold that excludes and alienates women. In the medieval period, wars in Europe were fought by limited mercenary forces. During the French Revolution, military genius Napoleon Bonaparte institutionalized the levée en masse—a mass conscription that maximized the male population’s military potential. This revolutionary shift enabled the French army to dominate European rivals for years. A similarly innovative gender policy that optimizes both the male and female segments of society could be just as transformative. A military that fundamentally attracts and includes women would leverage both masculine and feminine traits for greater strategic success.

Political-Strategic Advantages

Masculine hegemony also creates political-strategic disadvantages, evident in NATO’s current responses to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The current gender policy overly focuses on conventional deterrence and combat strategies—reminiscent of the generals’ rigid thinking during World War I. Military strategist Sun Tzu recognized that victory requires both masculine and feminine traits. Success depends on understanding the psychological, cultural, political, and human dimensions of conflict. While a masculine approach counts tanks and jets, a feminine perspective considers the importance of the support of the enemy population. Sun Tzu called this moral influence—the harmony between leaders and their people. The Germans exploited this principle during World War I by smuggling revolutionary Vladimir Lenin into Russia to destabilize the country from within. This feminine strategy of psychological warfare allowed Germany to focus entirely on the Western Front.

Conclusion

Currently, we resemble Ares, just like authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China, or Iran. These powers will likely only strengthen masculine hegemony in their militaries and societies in preparation for war. Instead, we propose transforming ourselves into Athena—a balanced, androgynous military force—to fully harness the strategic advantages that such innovation offers.