In a recent interview with The New Republic, President Obama decried the violence of football, saying, “I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence.”

So let me summarize: Boys playing football? Maybe not. Women in combat. No problem.