Discussion»Questions»Life and Society» Does anyone really completely believe the gender equality ideas? I see women as superior in many ways. What's your honest opinion?
Neither is superior and we aren't equal in all areas. Men are better in general at certain things and have their strengths and women are better in general at certain other things and have their strengths. Each is equal over-all and deserves the same chances to rise to any of their potentials. We are equal in our balance of attributes.
After 72 years experience being a woman, Weylon I will say I think the genders are very very different; profoundly different...down to the level of the soul (if you accept that concept), a beautiful complementarity.
Close to equality, however, with perhaps the female somewhat more central, more grounded in the Earth. I am not totally certain of that, but it is the way of my own family, with the female at the center.
And if anything, men suffer MORE from gender bias than women (at least in the past, hopefully better now), ...look at their shorter life spans, for one. The cultural pressure on men to be "masculine" is intense, sometimes brutal.
* * * So yes, we do need to pursue gender equality, but for the sake of BOTH sexes, and for the sake of society as a whole.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 8, 2017 6:34 AM MDT
Thoughtful answer. We were answering at the same time but I took a completely different tack.
In things physical triathlon is a great equaliser. Women compete very well against men in endurance sports. I remember watching the live broadcast of the Hawaii Triathlon about 1983 and after the swim, well into the cycle leg, the announcer was going ape because a woman was leading the Iron Man. She didn't win but placed very creditably.
Yes...the stamina. You and I may have discussed already...? ...that women may actually have, on average, a stronger constitution, associated with child-bearing - even while less musculature.
I enjoy your answer but I'm still not sure what gender equality would be. No two people are even equal. The notion that all men are created equal has been indoctrinated into Americans for our whole lives but we all have our differences, and despite not being equal, we can all add strength to one another. We all can work together like the spokes of a wheel. A good man and a good woman together create a synergy that is much more than the two of them good do separately.
There are so many levels of masculinity. Any average man can jump up and start a fight or lift a heavy object, to me though true masculinity is to control ones mind and to look for ways to lessen the possibility of getting one's head smashed, or the heads of his tribe, for lack of a better word.
Femininity also comes in many forms, just because a woman likes some things considered more masculine does not discredit her being feminine. There are men that like all sorts of traits in women.
We will never be equal but we should not treat anyone like they are any less than equal. All are superior to me in one way or another. I prefer friends like yourself who can teach me and make me rethink my position on things.
When it is action time, I am very decisive. I make decisions and take credit or blame for the results, but in my downtime, I love to study and to expand my horizons so I have more experience and knowledge in order to improve future decisions. I'll learn as long as I live. I'll change, hopefully for the better.
As a side note, I do believe the soul exists in the heart of us all. Ask someone to point at themselves. Where do they point? If they point at the head, where the organ of the mind is, one might think they are suicidal. It is natural to point at the heart. We are a soul with a mind and a body that we can and often do change. That's my brief take on the subject.
Hi Weylon, Maybe no one really understands what true 'gender equality' would look like...I do like very much you idea of "We will never be equal but we should not treat anyone like they are any less than equal."
More and more people now I think are committed to that idea, or something similar...so maybe together we will all discover something wonderful!
Some men are better in some areas than women. Some are not. Rather than generalise we really have to consider individuals.
My main field of interest is chess and until the rise of the Hungarian Polgar sisters (Susan, Judit and Sofia) very few women could challenge male grand masters. When they showed how it was done there was a renaissance in women's chess and, although the top women still lag a little behind the top men, they are virtually equal. Susan visited Australia about 1984 when she was Women's World Champion and I had the opportunity to play against her (she played 12 of us at the same time). It was like fighting a boa constrictor. She now lives and teaches chess in the US.
Individualism isn't a very popular idea in the last few decades with more and more promoting communism in this country. We each do have very different ideas, strengths and weaknesses but we can all work together if we are allowed to express our individuality.
The square peg in the round hole still doesn't work unless the round hole is elastic.
Men and women are equal, but different. Each, as a member of the species, brings its own strengths. They have complementary attributes which allow us to work together to form a unified and solid foundation for the continuation of the species. The inequality comes in the way one gender or the other is treated in certain circumstances. Surely, there should be equality in pay for doing the same job.
This post was edited by SpunkySenior at April 8, 2017 6:04 PM MDT
Equality is not a precise word unless you are doing math.
It means on the one hand, likeness or sameness in quality, power, status, or degree---which is more of a political consideration.
On the other hand it can refer to individual talents that are unique to individuals, in addition to the apparent genetic differences in strength, language learning ability, etc.
The human race is wonderfully diverse. Too bad we haven't been able yet to recognize and facilitate the exercise of each person's uniqueness in all countries around the world.
I read in one of my text books about 50 years ago that the 500 most common words in the English language have 20,000 meanings among them.
(I need to dig that textbook out so I can reference that.)
But regardless, one of the most important things when we are discussing an idea or a concept is to be sure everyone involved in the discussion is thinking about the same thing when we use a given word to refer to it.
(And another comment from another site: The grey area about black: A black object may look black, but, technically, it may still be reflecting some light.)
It is buried in a box in my garage, weylon.com. I missed the bottom step coming down the stairs two weeks ago and it will be probably another two weeks before I have full range of motion in my left ankle. I wouldn't even attempt to navigate in my garage (read "storage unit") until them.
But feel free to remind me around May or so if I haven't gotten back to you---just "reply" to something I answer.
You are the first person in a while I've seen say /agree with this author I recently read, he wrote a book called, 'Women After All' and he claimed women are 'superior', not equal to men. Being a woman and person who has ALWAYS felt less than anyone, especially men, really made my mind widen and open to the fact that, maybe I DO have power I never thought I did. I know deep inside besides my insecurity, that we are really VERY much the same, even scientifically made of the same matter of the outer universe/stars.. in that sense how can we NOT be equal? It's like saying a German Shepherd is better or has more rights b/c it is bigger than say a golden retriever lol... no they are equal. Yet my mind said (often b/c of the messages I got from my dad) I'm less , small, or do not have as much 'say' in anything as a man does. Yet in that book I mentioned, he states women score much higher on intelligence /cognitive tests, higher in social dynamics, control, and are not the main cause of war/death. He said he was sad to be a man sometimes lol, but regardless of this, I still look up to many men, and in my view we are the SAME in every way ...and, yet still believe I'm less sometimes too :/ Go figure, I think it is a tape I need to remove from my subconscious. Great question Wey and I think everyone really enjoyed it here.
I just think honesty would take us a lot farther than political correctness. There is no gender equality or no equality at all among any of us. We are all in this world together to, to work together and make the best of the talents we are blessed with.
One exception might be those who act as if they are superior because of sex, race or some other reason that has nothing to do with choice. People like that are a thorn in the side.
Benedict Arnold 