Following Israel, the Norwegian military has become the second country to fully integrate women into it's service, thereby showcasing the capability and value of women soldiers to the remaining 99% of the world. Norway lifted the ban on womens' participation in combat back in 1988, but today, the results of a 2014 co-ed experiment are ready for analysis.

Elisabeth Braw, a Swedish journalist, wrote an article for Foreign Affairs titled "Norway's Radical Military Experiment: How Full Gender Integration Paid Off" in January of 2017 which discussed the social and military impact of this Norwegian experiment.

Braw cites the alleged success of an Air and Missile Defense Battalion compromised equally of men and women. This combat unit received exceptional attention as it was a state-sponsored experiment to test the integration of women into a male-dominated arena.

Braw reports that, historically, women have been limited to non-combat service positions, such as those in the medical field. She elaborates that social stigma rather than insufficient capability has stymied the woman's progress in the Norwegian military.

The 2014 dry run removed gender barriers: men and women lived and trained in a uniformed fashion. This strategy aimed to elevate women to men by placing them in the same environment as men which resulted in, most surprisingly, the coed housing.

A year after the test run, a gender neutral conscription was implemented. Norway had become the first NATO country to implement such a revolutionary policy, according to Braw. Today, post experiment, 45% of that same Air and Missile Defense Battalion is comprised of drafted women.

In essence, this Air and Missile Defense Battalion became the equivalent of the United States' Affirmative Action program. Affirmative Action seeks to incorporate unrepresented minorities into the education system as this battalion was designed to include the underrepresented demographic of women in military affairs. In both cases, capability is certainly a factor but diversity seems paramount.

Although Braw points out that female applicants were admitted only if they could meet the same standards as men, numerous NATO commanders were skeptical of the coed situation's contribution to military success. One noted that “living together and fighting together are two different things."

Such policies have been hailed as victories for feminists striving for gender equality, but it is possible for gender equality to compromise the intentions of feminists.

While bodily autonomy is not the only platform of many modern day feminists, it is one of the most discussed areas of feminism. Unsurprisingly and unfortunately, sexual harassment was an unavoidable consequence of Norway's military housing merger. The Norwegian Armed Forces admitted in 2015 that 18% of female service members reported cases of sexual assault.

The American feminists' war cry of "my body, my choice" seemed alarmingly obsolete in these barracks. Compared to 18%, only 4.9% females in the American military reported sexual assault. Perhaps it is not the only factor of the lower rate, but American barracks are not unisex (for now). It is worth noting.

The truth should be that capable women will prove themselves in drills and on the battlefield. Women shouldn't need social rebranding in order to succeed in the military. Likewise, they should not be subject to an environment of dehumanization. Harassment is not empowerment. Although likely well-intentioned, coed policies are only superficial solutions. They put a bandaid on a bullet wound.

Instead, proof of capability is the most reliable form of empowerment. There certainly are capable women whose efforts are being noted, as affirmed by Lieutenant Colonel Stein Maute, the Air and Missile Defense Battalion’s commander, “We’re not seeing any difference between women and men during exercises with live ammunition,” Maute is encouraged by the performance of his battalion's women.

But was their success caused by unisex housing?

One of Norway's greatest military heroes is a female named Major General Kristin Lund who served as the first female commander of a United Nation peacekeeping operation. She consistently demonstrated her outstanding military expertise during tours in Lebanon, the first Gulf War, Bosnia, and Afghanistan.

In 2014, she led the peace keeping force to Cypress and became a global symbol of hope for female leadership, yet she joined the Norwegian military in the early 80's before the combat ban was lifted and succeeded long before the coed housing program. In other words, a man's view of Lund did not impact Lund's performance.

Major General Lund shares the Norwegian dream of a more balanced military when she told The Guardian that "I think it's time, and I think it's important that other women see that it's possible also in the UN system to get up in the military hierarchy to become a force commander." To protect women inside the military and offer them opportunities for advancement are obvious ways to equip women, but coed dormitories are not the singular answer to cries for female empowerment.

Major General Lund teaches women everywhere that the global stigma is being lifted in significant ways when your resume can speak louder than you gender. To be treated as an equal transcends one's place of rest; it rests on one's will and ability to contribute his or her identified cause in remarkable ways.