Usually this is supported by a feminist study or anecdote that women can concentrate longer, or with-stand loneliness, isolation or pain for longer than men, and therefore are 'more suitable' for occupations such as soldiers, astronauts or some-such.
Australia doesn't actually employ astronauts, so the astronauts are irrelevant to Australian policy. If the Americans are paying for it, they can use whatever criteria they wish.
As for soldiers, the jury is still out on that one. During the 1991 Gulf War (Desert Storm), the pregnancy rates soared among the women US soldiers. The non deployability rates were
| %Male | %Female | Comparison Factor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 2.7 | 9.0 | 3.3 times |
| Navy | 1.5 | 5.6 | 3.7 times |
| Air Force | 1.8 | 6.4 | 3.5 times |
| Marine Corps | 8.8 | 26.3 | 3.9 times |
While many people would be happy to see feminists in the front line taking the same risks as men, we see that in practice it doesn't happen. Many of them take the easy way out - motherhood.
Even if the argument about resilience were true, and that women were somehow fundamentally more able than men, this would hardly justify affirmative action and other government programs designed to discriminate in favor of women.
The is an example of the confused feminist mindset - simultaneously claiming dominance and victimhood.