"I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce"

Margaret Mead’s assertion, “I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce,” offers a complex argument about gender and warfare, challenging traditional perceptions of both femininity and combat readiness. The statement initially appears to uphold a conventional view against deploying women in combat roles, which might seem to align with arguments that question women’s suitability for war. However, Mead subverts expectation by suggesting the reason is not any deficiency, but instead an excess, a surplus of fierceness inherent in women.

Fierceness in this context evokes a sense of intensity, relentless determination, and perhaps an unyielding capacity for protection or aggression. Mead, an influential anthropologist, was deeply invested in exploring and often debunking societal and cultural constructions of gender. By positing that women are “too fierce,” she challenges stereotypes of women as gentle, passive, or in need of protection, turning the argument on its head. Traditionally, exclusion from combat has been predicated on the notion of women’s physical or emotional vulnerability; Mead’s argument acknowledges women’s vigor and perhaps hints at a different kind of emotional strength or tenacity.

Underlying her words is an appreciation for the different, yet equally potent, forms of power and aggression that women may embody. Mead may be invoking the notion that women’s innately fierce qualities could, in the theater of war, either prove overwhelmingly effective or risk further escalation, given the unbounded force she attributes to them. Her commentary is laced with irony, implying that women’s exclusion from combat is less about protecting them and more about containing a force that society may not fully understand or be able to control.

Mead’s statement thus functions as both a critique of gendered power structures and a reflection on human nature. She invites readers to reconsider assumptions about strength, aggression, and capability, turning the conversation away from perceived weakness and toward the recognition, and perhaps reverence, of women’s formidable presence.