Are women and men equal?
There is definitely a big confusion about this subject, mainly caused by political practice.In some countries, like Switzerland for example, women do not have the right to vote, they have lower salaries than men of same qualifications and experience, they retire earlier and so on...
This is set by law and is, in my opinion, a stupid and unfair discrimination that has no logical reason.
Now if we ask a question on a social level, between us, away from politics: Are women equal to men?
This is more stupid of a question than the law mentioned above that discriminates women from men in practice and legal rights.
The question implies a convention that women are treated as inferiors to men.
Are men all equal to each other? Certainly not.
Are women all equal to each other? Of course not.
People are different, men and women. They are not and need not be equal. Yet, they should have equal legal rights.
It is a bit like asking: Are female horses equal to male horses?
Or: Are oranges equal to apples?
Are nurses equal to engineers?
We are different depending on how we were raised up, followed by choices we make in our lives, and circumstances we live within.
Each of us, has a role in the society. I am not even talking about different professions here.
The real measures of quality is how human you are within the human society. Kind, useful, understanding, cooperative, communicative, helpful and have many other human qualities that distinguish humans from trees.
The greatest thing about humans is that they are different. Can you imagine if we were all the same? Absolutely equal? This would really be ridiculous and inhuman.
So, the answer to the question "Are women equal to men?" is "NO", and they should not be and need not be, and please do not insult women by telling them they are or should be equal to men.
Comments (15)
I agree with you. Many times when we say "equal" we tend to confuse that phrase with the word "fair"
What is fair and what is equal are two different things. People can be different and at the same time still be treated with equal fairness.
All we have to do is take our clothes off and look in the mirror to realize that we are not equal or the same though we are both equally important.
Great blog
I like how you put it.
We are equally important as humans within the human society.
Good blog...
Not quite true. Switzerland is divided in 26 Cantons and such practices are locally decided, and until very recently, some cantons (Appenzel, for instance, if my memory helps) still did not allow women to vote.
Even if we talk about 1971. For a country like Switzerland in the middle of Europe, it's really a shame, I think.
I would like to think that any two people are of equal value.
Here's the key --- value is what you assign to something. It's up to each of us to decide how we value others.
Personally, I try to value each person the same. Sometimes this isn't easy
to be noughty or sth mr.Efoto!!??? Hmmmm??!!
Kidding.
Guess what u are saying is that equal rights should be handed out equally to all the differet people. Agree.
Well written blog.
4 hours ago
"No two people are the same. No two trees are the same.
I would like to think that any two people are of equal value.
Here's the key --- value is what you assign to something. It's up to each of us to decide how we value others. professor
Personally, I try to value each person the same. Sometimes this isn't easy laugh ... but it's what I try to do."
I guess you mean we should evaluate people the same way, or based on the same measures. People's values are not the same, in my opinion, they are relative. Relative to persons they are connected to, and relative to their achievements in the society.
For example, Lana's father (God bless his soul) has a great value to her. His value to me isn't the same, although after reading her blog about her late father, I felt a great respect to him too. I could say something similar about my father's value for me.
Thomas Edison has a value due to his invention, the electric lamp, which has been of great help and usefulness to the entire human society. I do not have the same value as he has.
So, the bottom line is: it is not whether we are women or men that sets our values, and we are not of equal values either. But the evaluation should be fair (as Lana stated).
Look at this one: the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarion Affairs (OCHA) operates from Geneva, switzerland
What I was trying to say is that women and men are not equal and the question about their equality is not logical. The fact that they are not equal does not mean either of them is superior to the other. They should be treated fairly (Lana) and be evaluated the same way.
I gave an example of apples and oranges.
If somebody says that Oranges and apples are equal (both are fruits and provide vitamins) then I would reject this comparison.
I can say about two apples that they are equal after I examine them according to my knowledge/definition of apples. by equals, I would mean that they have the same taste, they are the same size, they are both equally ripe, and so their price (value) in the market should be the same. I would not expect the price of ten oranges be equal to the price of ten apples.
Furthermore, as a matter of fact, women (generally speaking) should, in my opinion, be paid higher than men, if this differentiation should ever be considered. A woman bears a vital responsibility when she carries a baby in her body. She is (taking the responsibility of) providing humanity a new life, or at least she has the potential to do that. Bearing a baby for nine months is a task well beyond any technical task any engineer may ever perform. Even in cases where she has to make a decision whether to keep the baby or not, this is not comparable to any major decision of any business manager in any deal whatsoever. It's about a human life.
Therefore, claiming equality for women to men is actually reducing their human value and human rights.
The bottom line: Let's evaluate people according to what they offer to humanity and not whether they were males or females.
Everyone has different strengths and weeknesses . Men are in general physically different than women are they not? and in many ways also phsycologically different...we are wired differently, lets face it BUT this does not mean that on gender is more valuable or "better" than the other.
It simply means that generaly we do have different strengths and weeknesses which is part of the reason that we are able to attract one another.
It makes sense