What if women conquered a city?

[Originally published on a weblog called “What Is Liberalism?”]

This is a thought experiment, not a carefully argued essay.

There are tens of thousands of women in the American military.What would it be like if we formed an all-female division and allowed the women to take over all security for a large city? Again, this is a thought experiment, not a policy suggestion. If we gathered up 60,000 female troops into one division and put, say, Bagdad, or Tikrit, under the its control, what would happen? What would the response be from that city’s public? Would female soldiers have an easier time of managing their city than male solidiers would, or would they have a more difficult time? Would Islamic terrorists back-off their attacks on military targets, feeling that women were an unworthy target, or would they intensify their attacks, feeling that such women as presume to dominate a city are in especial need of being put in their place? How would life be for the Iraqi women living in that city? What would it be like to live in a city where there are female soldiers on almost every street corner? Would Iraqi women feel safe walking around at night? Would they feel safer walking around at night than they do now? Would an Iraqi woman, when attacked by her husband, be more likely to report the incident of domestic violence if she knew that the police response would be made up of an all female force? If we assume that rape is an under reported crime, everywhere, would it be any more reported in a city that was occupied by an all-female army? Would a woman like Riverbend despise an all female American army of occupation as much as she despises the current army? Could the American military dispel its occassional reputation for being heavy-handed by sending in all-female divisions? Or would the public in some occupied countries feel that an all-female army is even more of a burden than a male army of occupation, since an all-female army would send a loud message about American values? How would the males in the city that was occupied react? Would they learn a new respect for women? Would it be an enlightening experience for them? Or would there be an increase in acts of domestic violence, perhaps because the men might feel their authority threatened and in reaction begin to enforce their authority at home with greater displays of what power they feel they have left?

Recently on Majikthise they were discussing the subject of male-privilege. What does male privilege look like in a city in which women have an official monopoly on all physical violence?(Not that they have an actual monopoly on physical violence, the police never do, but in a civil society the agents of the state are the only ones who are officially allowed to deal out physical violence.) I find myself wondering if an all-female army of occupation would be an inspiration to the women who were citizens of the city that was occupied.

This is not quite the stuff of science fiction, since if we had a different President, these are ideas that might actually be applied, at least as a test.