True to form, CNN breathlessly reports a slight rise in suicides among Army personnel. Implying of course, a larger problem. But they fail to see the real story within the story:
"According to a Pentagon report released last summer, the overall suicide rate for the United States was 13.4 per 100,000 people in 2006.
For all men ages 17 to 45, it was 21.1 per 100,000 people, compared with 17.8 for men in the Army.
And it was 5.46 per 100,000 for all women, compared with an Army rate of 11.3 women soldiers per 100,000."
So what this is really telling us is that the suicide rate for military men is lower than in the male population at large, while the suicide rate for military women is more than double that of the general female population.
What does that mean? I think it means exactly what most people think but may not want to admit. Women, as a general proposition, are simply not wired to thrive in a profession which depends on an aggressive (testosterone laden) culture for its success. That culture is alien to most women; especially in a combat theatre.
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