How do people "come around" to ideas "slowly"? Don't quite understand what that's supposed to mean. Either you support something, oppose it, or are unsure what is correct. But "slowly coming around" seems to imply that you actually support something but want to drag it out unnecessarily.
It's called 'getting used to the idea'. It takes time. Especially for someone approaching it from a conservative perspective.
I'm actually coming around to the idea (slowly) of women in active combat units. Though it would be unnerving to be in a gym knowing that any of the women you see exercising there are actually battle-hardened soldiers who kill people for a living. And have done so with their own hands in a face-to-face confrontation. 
Why more so than any of the men?
Because a battle-hardened woman would be a novelty here. You don't really expect it of a gender you have been trained unconsciously to regard as the fairer (but weaker) sex. This isn't Israel.
