Poll: More women rank defense as priority

WASHINGTON - In a stark reversal since the Sept. 11 attacks, women are now more likely than men to consider national defense a top priority, according to a new poll. <br> <br> ``Too many things are happening. We have let our guard down; we need to beef things up,&#39;&#39; said Carol Drummonds, a 52-year-old paralegal in Birmingham, Ala. ``I always felt like we were prepared. I&#39;m second-guessing now that maybe we&#39;re not.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> More women than men - 57 percent to 46 percent - named bolstering national security as a top priority, according to a poll released this week by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. <br> <br> Last year, a poll showed only 42 percent of women were as worried about national defense, compared with 53 percent of men. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s due entirely to the events of September 11,&#39;&#39; said Paul Herrnson, director of the University of Maryland&#39;s Center for American Politics and Citizenship. <br> <br> Men traditionally tend to be more hawkish on national defense and more likely than women to give it higher priority, Herrnson said. <br> <br> Since the terror attacks, however, women are less likely to see defense as a question of armaments or going to war. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s now become an issue that deals with the safety of their home places. It&#39;s a response to homeland security issues at a personal, my-family-security level,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It has brought the issue down to a very basic personal level.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The attacks appear to have heightened protective instincts in women, who traditionally have given a higher rating to education, health care and poverty than men when listing domestic priorities. <br> <br> ``We have our kids to protect - not just for my son, other children, other people and their children,&#39;&#39; said Rachel Buy, a 26-year-old mother in Garden Grove, Calif. <br> <br> ``We don&#39;t need to be scared going outside our house,&#39;&#39; she said. ``If we go to any type of city like Washington ..., if I want to take my son to the White House, I don&#39;t want to be scared, don&#39;t want to be afraid.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Recent polls have reflected rising worries among women about national defense. A poll released in November found that women, who traditionally are more skeptical about increased military spending, were nearly as likely as men to favor more money for U.S. forces. <br> <br> Drummonds, the Alabama paralegal, said ``it&#39;s just natural&#39;&#39; for women to be bothered more about the state of national defense. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re looking at our sons and husbands and fathers getting more involved in the military,&#39;&#39; she said. <br> <br> The Pew poll of 1,201 adults was taken Jan. 9-13 and has an error margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.