Why Do Women Disapprove of Drone Strikes So Much More Than Men Do?

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/why-do-women-disapprove-of-drone-strikes-so-much-more-than-men-do/278112/



Pew's out with an international poll that shows, across countries and overall levels of support, a striking gender gap exists on support for American drone strikes.

Women were much less likely to approve of "the United States conducting missile strikes from pilotless aircraft called drones to target extremists in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia."



In Japan, for example, support for drone strikes was 30 percentage points lower than their male counterparts. The smallest gaps -- in France, South Korea, and Uganda -- were 14, 14, and 13 percentage points, respectively. On average, there was a 22-point gap between male and female support for drone strikes, and it didn't matter if there was considerable overall support for strikes or not.

"Gender gaps are also often seen in global surveys over the use of military force, with women far less likely than men to say that force is sometimes necessary in the pursuit of justice," wrote Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes at the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, in introducing the data. "But the gender difference over drone strikes is unusually large."

[valerief]

1. Women are cooperators, men are competitors. nt

[SwampG8r]

2. women in my experience

have less patience for stupid than men do

[LisaLynne]

3. Women and children, despite being historically noncombatants for the most part,

always end up suffering more from war. Maybe that's part of it?

[Jackpine Radical]

4. There are just so many issues

on which I find myself siding with women…

Patriarchy was probably the biggest mistake we ever made in our cultural evolution. What kind of idiot came up with the idea of putting men in charge, anyway?

[Cleita]

5. Maybe has something to do with the bombing of Dresden during WWII.

It never been cool with women to bomb targets where children are. We have no tolerance for that kind of collateral damage

[onehandle]

6. They play less video games? nt

[stevenleser]

7. I've always more or less thought the drone issue a red herring

Unless you are going to make the argument that its better to substitute cruise missiles strikes, or special forces insertions, or traditional aircraft bombing, it is a red herring. The real question is whether there should be military strikes or not, not whether those strikes should be made by drones.

Part of the gender gap may be that globally men still serve in the military more than women and can identify with the soldiers and airmen who would otherwise have to risk themselves in an attack. I prefer drones to regular strikes if a strike has to be made for that reason and because drones have less collateral damage.

But that is the issue. "If a strike has to be made". I think we need to figure out how to engage in anti-terror policy without attacking people.

[RobertEarl]

11. What a concept!

The US should not act like a terrorist state.

Someone needs to tell the State Department.

[polly7]

8. All of the above.

Except for post 7.

[Dr. Strange]

9. Make a drone shaped like a vagina and maybe that will change.

[GeorgeGist]

10. The Empire Strikes.

53% of US women in favor.

[KamaAina]

12. Because women disapprove of war more than men do.

Which is one big reason we need more women in office. "A woman's place is in the House. And the Senate."