Gender equality Myth or Reality
Is gender equality fair? Here’s a question that I would like you guys to ponder upon. How can two different creations with two different fundamental roles be treated the same ?If we are biologically, mentally and socially different is it fair to be treated as one? In my opinion no, I believe the idea itself is illogical and somewhat unjust. Take for instance, in sports men and women are segregated so each can drive themselves to their full potential without any biological barriers. If they were put together it would be equality because they are treated the same, but is it just. No, not really because males are naturally stronger than women so to compete,women would have to strive harder giving that males have an unfair advantage. This is equality but is it necessarily fair? We need to stop constructing societal ideologies regarding equality and focus more on achieving equity. The key to unjust expectations isn't equality but it is respect (Hassan).
This relates to a quote Beyonce recently said that sparked a lot of controversy : “We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn't a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gender. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect”(Gender Equality Is a Myth!).
“Equity, as we have seen, involves trying to understand and give people what they need to enjoy full, healthy lives. Equality, in contrast, aims to ensure that everyone gets the same things in order to enjoy full, healthy lives” (Distinguish between Equity and Equality).
Here is a video that further goes on to discuss the difference between equity and equality ...
Both males and females have a form of beauty. Both genders also have strength and weakness that construct their identities. These differences make each group of individuals unique. Instead of trying to conform to theses societal pressures that we should all be treated the same, I believe we should treat each other with respect and push each other to strive to the best of our abilities to achieve success. By being empathetic we can develop a society based on equity rather than equality.
So i guess its time to reflect. What do you think about equity vs equality in gender?
As a male reader what is your opinion on women wanting equality vs women wanting equity?
As a female reader would you rather be treated with equity or with equality?
What were your opinions on Beyonce's controversial statement? Do you agree with her?Give some examples or maybe even personal experiences to justify your answers?
First let me define equality and equity as it correlates to my responses.
ReplyDeleteEquality: the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
Equity: the quality of being fair and impartial.
1. When it comes to gender I would prefer, even with your good arguments, equality. The reason for this is that I feel like giving leverage to people who can earn it themselves just because of their gender is a form of disrespect. I understand biologically men and women are different in terms of physical maxed out capability. A woman can’t beat that boundary of being born in a body that will not get as strong as a man who worked equally as hard as her. That is where equity has its place. But in intelligence and societal behaviour I don’t believe such leverage should exist. We both have very similar brains, but there are differences. I feel the point you are trying to make is that men and women should be better then each other in different regions of the brain at their maxed out potential. The problem with that is our brain does not work like that. If you are bad at something mentally it is probably because you haven’t put time in it or haven’t found your way of learning that skill. And for societal I cannot perceive any kind of logical explanation for why someone would think a gender would have better social skills then the other. There is no basis to that argument. While equality on the other hand doesn’t force equality, but by giving the opportunity you are given a choice to do what you want. Being equitable is being fair, but who decides what is or not fair? Giving equality gives genders equal opportunities, rights, and status. You have this mentality that we are forced to become them the same in all aspects. Everyone is different no matter what gender you are. Equality is about breaking boundaries for people restricted by race, gender age etc to be what they want to be. It’s not giving people what they need that is important, it is giving them the choice to choose what they do or not need.
2. In my opinion females who want the same chances to what they want as men, not given status dedications for their gender, and given the same rights/respect are people who a strong sense of determination and know how to hold to their dignity as a female. I feel women who are going for equity are people who want to comprise with men a sense of middle ground that says, “We’re good at this while you are good at that so we should respect each other for own uses”. These women might either be fed up with men not giving the equality they deserve so they follow something that men would accept or they might be women who want to keep some of their roles to themselves and not take some of men. An example of this is the conscription of men, but not women (I shall talk about this double standard more in my post).
4. I do agree with her idea, but not the statistics of it. She should have gone into more detail because she made it sound like if you take the average American female salary and divide it by the average American male salary you get 0.77 or 77%. That could just mean women just earn less than men in the US not that they are getting paid less in the same jobs. Keep in mind the traditional family woman tends the family so she must do work that is less time consuming hence less pay. But I do agree the overall statement that Beyonce was trying to push across. Both men and women have to go against sexism in any situation for it to change. The problem is that many men don’t see it as a problem because sexism towards females is not their problem and think females should deal with themselves. Like I have a lot of friends who make sexist jokes which are funny even if in poor taste, but I know that some of them take it seriously. I remember I had a friend who asked me, “If a hot naked woman appeared in front of you would you have sex with her?” So to him consent had no relevance to this? The sad part was it was a serious question, probably an attempt to test my manliness. I sorely regret not throwing some sort of verbal abuse to punish him for such an obnoxious, sick question (sadly I was too timid back then). I could go on a long list of examples, but to wrap this up, I agree with Beyonce that more men (especially teenage boys) need to smarten up when it comes to gender equality.
ReplyDeleteSorry I took up two comments my response went past the word count.
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your point. The term equality is something that often gets misused by many people. In fact it is deceptive most of the time as gender equality can really mean so many different things. If it means being given equal rights and opportunity regardless of gender, then I am utterly in favour of that. However, there are various things that come along with complete equality between male and female that I do not wish to support. For instance: as you have also mentioned, male and female are two different creations with different behaviours and fundamental roles, so demanding an absolute equality causes unrest within nature itself. I couldn’t find a better example to explain my point in here, you have already mentioned a very good example about sports. If men and women were to be completely equal, then that also means having to compete against each other in all areas and aspects including sports. Men are biologically believed to be stronger than women, and don’t get me wrong I am not at all saying that women are weak or anything, but relatively men can be stronger. So, this whole equality thing can play against us. Therefore, I think it is very important to embrace our differences and play fair by preferring equity over equality.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, how applicable is the entire issue of “gender equality” anyway? Has anyone else noticed when males say something like “you don’t fight a girl back” this is a good example that indicates that there isn’t really equality between men and women. If men and women were both equal then why is it inappropriate even a crime for men to fight a woman back when it is absolutely normal for a girl to hit a guy? And oh! What about when it’s a man Vs man fight? I know hitting anyone is never ok in general, but it takes a different stage when it happens between men and women. A very good example for this can be the case of Chris brown and Rihanna, as well as the new Jay-Z and solange case. When Chris brown hit Rihanna it was seen as a complete crime and he was charged with assault on it, but when Solange hits Jay-z, it is totally acceptable and in fact he got ridiculed and she is now seen as a hero for being able to attack a big man like that. I just brought this up since I found it relevant and something to think about.
I enjoyed reading your blog, Munira. You really backed up your argument with great points. I’m not really passionate about gender equality, but I do wish for men and women to be treated equally. However, as I was reading your blog, you made me stop and think about my standing on this topic. If I crave for gender equality, am I really getting what is more beneficial for me as a woman? After putting some thought into my opinion, I finally came up with an answer for your first question.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, gender equality is a must in society. Without women getting on the same eye level as men, they will never be able to prove themselves. But, with this equality, there should be boundaries- or exceptions should I say. Yes women should be treated with equality as men, but there are things where we naturally just need equity to keep things in balance. For example, like you said, men and women are naturally built differently. We both have different physical performance and needs which is why men and women are put into separate sports teams. This could be a case where men and women are treated with equity. In the cases where we are treated equally, men and women should be paid the same amount of money for the same career. If a man and a woman have the same job (which requires the same amount of strength and physical excursion), why is the amount in the salaries different?
So as a female reader, I would want gender equality, but with exceptions to our natural needs. But if this is too much to ask for, I would prefer gender equality. We women can prove ourselves if need be. (:
I agree with Beyoncé’s quote. It’s true that nothing will change about the ordeal of men earning more than women if men themselves cannot accept it. Men need to fight for their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters to earn the same amount as men. What I don’t understand is why they don’t. Does it have something to do with their ego? Does the fact that women earning the same amount as a man affect their male ego? I have heard of many cases where a woman was making the same amount as her husband or even more than him and the marriage ended in divorce. I find it really sad that some men can’t accept the fact that women can earn the same amount or even more than their husbands. I mean, your household gets more money right? What’s so bad about that?
Wow! First time I've read something like this, really out there. In my option the idea of comparing equity and equality is very new, when I read into what equity meant I understood what you were getting at. Though the meanings can be comparing, they differ. I liked the concept of Equity, how it’s to provide what the individual most needs to be happy. And comparing the two concepts really makes you think because the two concepts intersect at one point, for instance what if people need equality to live a happier life? Now as to the question which side I would take, Equity or equality, well to be honest I’m not sure. However I do agree with your statement “Instead of trying to conform to theses societal pressures that we should all be treated the same, I believe we should treat each other with respect and push each other to strive to the best of our abilities to achieve success”, I do believe if we are only given equality and no respect then what’s the point. We should teach and learn from each other, and strive for a better society, by first treating each other as humans and help each other out. That is what makes a brighter future and for the existence of mankind. Also I agree with Beyonce’s statement, women have said their part on equality, however, men need to jump on board as well to make the idea a reality. Because, no matter what the women say on behave of having equality, that is still only one side, we need both side to agree for the equality of the women to happen. Overall, I was very intrigued by your blog, the concept is new to me, and is a very good debating topic; I would be interested into looking further into it.
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