Femme Fatale

This paper provides evidence that opponents to women serving in combat and the military fail to grasp the realities associated with modern armed conflict. Women have participated and will continue to participate in combat. Beginning with an examination of the role women played in the resistance during World War II, this paper evaluates four cases in which women directly participated in armed conflicts. From the resistance movement, this paper shifts to examine the role of female pilots on the Eastern Front in World War II in the second chapter. These two case studies provide a contrast between clandestine actions taken by women who faced an occupying force to women in uniform fending off an invading force.