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What is your definition of equality?
The discussion of feminism and equality (and in particular, women in the military) has led me to wonder what others' perspectives are on equality.
Someone in the discussion suggested that the way to progress toward complete equality is to reject the concept that men and women are different, and work toward the same standard for both--this was in reference to physical requirements, but I think it applies to many things.
My feeling is that women and men ARE inherently different. I think sexism is the idea that either sex is 'better', or that members of either sex MUST fit a certain stereotype.
What I have a problem with is that virtually everything is viewed/defined/created with reference to the male sex. I think we will only be truly equal when that precedent no longer exists.
Not to be a crazy narcissist again, but I actually wrote in my weblog about the fact that it seems as though people are generally more comfortable with powerful/intelligent/successful women who do not display traits traditionally associated with women; that is, women who display the behaviours and characteristics more commonly associated with men. That's not equality.
Of course...I know it could be argued that the idea of "behaviour/characteristics often associated with women" are those that are forced upon us by our culture and media. I personally feel that the more traditional feministic perspective is somewhat outdated, and on a personal level, I think it's just reinforcing sexism to correlate expression of one's sexuality (in whatever manner one may choose) with negative ideas.
My thoughts on this are only based upon my personal experience and observations of course, but I have begun to wonder whether or not our concept of equality is skewed--I don't want to be "equal to men", I want women and men to be equal...if that makes sense.
So, what are your ideas on equality?
Do you think there is adequate equality between men and women? How do you define that condition?
I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this! :)
Someone in the discussion suggested that the way to progress toward complete equality is to reject the concept that men and women are different, and work toward the same standard for both--this was in reference to physical requirements, but I think it applies to many things.
My feeling is that women and men ARE inherently different. I think sexism is the idea that either sex is 'better', or that members of either sex MUST fit a certain stereotype.
What I have a problem with is that virtually everything is viewed/defined/created with reference to the male sex. I think we will only be truly equal when that precedent no longer exists.
Not to be a crazy narcissist again, but I actually wrote in my weblog about the fact that it seems as though people are generally more comfortable with powerful/intelligent/successful women who do not display traits traditionally associated with women; that is, women who display the behaviours and characteristics more commonly associated with men. That's not equality.
Of course...I know it could be argued that the idea of "behaviour/characteristics often associated with women" are those that are forced upon us by our culture and media. I personally feel that the more traditional feministic perspective is somewhat outdated, and on a personal level, I think it's just reinforcing sexism to correlate expression of one's sexuality (in whatever manner one may choose) with negative ideas.
My thoughts on this are only based upon my personal experience and observations of course, but I have begun to wonder whether or not our concept of equality is skewed--I don't want to be "equal to men", I want women and men to be equal...if that makes sense.
So, what are your ideas on equality?
Do you think there is adequate equality between men and women? How do you define that condition?
I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this! :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kendall on -
Is equality gained when all believe that men and women should be of equal status or just the vast majority?
Funny thing about human beings is that we can hide our true beliefs and intents behind a smile. A person can say they believe a woman should be treated with just as much respect as a man yet in their heart believe something entirely different. But how long will it take for people to truly believe this?
"Is it going to come tomorrow? Is it going to come next week? In a hundred years? Never? No, the time for justice, the time for freedom, and the time for equality is always, is always right now!" Samantha Booke, The Great Debaters
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Permalink Reply by Oats on -
Equality will be attained when and only when every person can look at another person for who they are, and not what they are. Each person is different, everyone has different needs and different strengths. Whether they are male, female, white, hispanic, african, etc. should not factor into these thoughts. If someone doesn't know someone else at all - does not know their needs, strengths, abilities, etc., one would have to see them simply as a person no different from any other person in general.
The problem lies in where the power is distributed throughout the world. Men in high power positions that are 100% for keeping all men in high power positions because they view women as threatening. It will be with the turnover of these positions for a younger more open-minded group that will bring us closer to equality. This is something we CAN see in our lifetime, but it will be us that must make it happen because clearly the older generations do not view equality the same way.
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Permalink Reply by JackoStain on -
I wrote my response to this and after reading OATS response and realize it embodied all of what I am going to say, I said ok cool, so I do support what he said 110%.
For everything there is a time and I do believe that equality has earned its time now. With equality the standards of living for allot of families will be raised drastically. The fair pay act is a start to it; I do believe it’s our generation that has to bring it full circle
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Permalink Reply by Sarah on -
I'm really just repeating my thoughts from the feminism discussion but to me equality is not about denying that there are differences between people. It's about giving all people the same opportunities and respect regardless of differences such as gender.
I think what Oats said is true as well and I really hope that we will see a more equal balance of power within our lifetime.
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Permalink Reply by chad on -
I know it's a lazy reply, but I really think you hit the nail on the head here.
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Permalink Reply by L.L. on -
I think we will only have equality when we realize people are different, and therefore, not always equal. As humans, there are certain things we all need in life, and certain things we can all bring to society, our families, etc. But as individuals, as men or women, there are many variations of what we can all bring to the collective table.
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