The men who got forced into the trench war did not have a choice in who got drafted. People who society deems expendable and at the bottom of the social ladder do not have that power or influence.
The people who got excluded from military conscription were women, rich men and men with influence.
The usually social ladder puts rich men at top, women in the middle and poor men at the bottom. Sometimes described as a differences in bell curves during gender equality discussions.
Poor men, having no influence or power gets conscripted against their will.
Women, being in the middle, are exempted from conscription but can't volunteer.
Rich men, being at the top of influence and power, was exempted from conscription and also had the choice to volunteer (usually for officer or other high ranking positions).
No one denies that the small percent that makes up rich men have more influence and power with more freedom to choose during conscription. Men as a group however is both the poor and the rich. If we only look at the top then we ignore an already marginalized and vulnerable part of the population. Those at the bottom.
>Women, being in the middle [in terms of power and influence], are exempted from conscription
This is just a wrong analysis. Women didn't get our of conscription as a result of their power and influence. They were exempted from military service because almost all men, across all classes, were opposed to women serving in the military.
And this is the point where we disagree. Women didn't get conscription because they are not seen as expendable by rich men.
And you are wrong that almost all men, across all classes, were opposed to women serving in the military. Armies that are created by rich men at the top looks very different to those created by lower classes, such as resistance movements in Europe during world war 2.
As you must be aware, I didn't suggest that this is the case.
I simply said that men chose to exclude women from military service.