Perhaps the solution to this all is that everyone isn't equal and putting pressure on them to be so is causing more problems than it can possibly solve?
(Also, if equality means I have to be responsible in part for government mistakes, I'm not sure I want to be equal. I am perfectly happy not being at all involved in politics).
Exactly. There are a whole lot of 'equalities' no-one talks about that are important, and I'm honestly not sure which one women are supposed to want to be equal too. Because a lot of people are stupid, y'know, and I don't really want to be equal to them.
Heh, no, nothing in particular; rather, with the 'right' to vote comes the sharing of responsibility when things go wrong. Prior to votes for women, you also couldn't logically blame them for political problems :) (I also think it hilarious that Americans are All For Equality, and yet irrationally afraid of communism, which is based solely on the principal of everyone being equal. As a political aside. I would much rather have the opportunity to become 'equal' than have 'equality' thrust upon me. But then I'm a freak who likes to earn things.)
:-D In many ways, as we grow, we earn our 'own' equality, don't we? That's not a bad thing, quite the contrary. If anything, we should all be free to do that journey with as little prejudice along the way as it's humanly possible.
Well said, sweetie! And as LLL said, there's too much pressure to treat everyone as "equal", which creates hostility from the "haves". We see this in the U.S. with race and nationality all the time. If we could only see people as people and not as a color, a nationality, a religion or a sex, we might just find Utopia.
Thanks, bb! :-D I believe in equality... But not equality defined as being a white, heterosexual, middle-aged man, LOL. I doubt that we can afford that kind of equality much longer.
I agree that the white, heterosexual, middle-aged man should not be the bar by which "equality" is set, but that same man should not be vilified for what he is. That only makes him angry and makes him push back against others instead of reaching out to help them, as it were.
Hubby & I are both white, heterosexual and middle-aged. That doesn't mean that we have every advantage. Watch our kids try to get into college if the school hasn't met their "minority quota" or hubby or I try to get a job if the business hasn't met their "minority quota". No matter if we are more qualified. That's not equality. For anyone.
Everything hubby and I have, we got because we worked hard for it and still are, just to keep our heads above water. Because of who we are, we don't get help, even when we did need it. That's not equality, either. We will never truly be "equal" until we don't look at if someone is white or not, heterosexual or not, Christian or not, male or not. We are all who we are by an accident of birth and we are the ones who determine
( ... )
I'm sorry that I didn't make myself clear and used a random and silly expression. You and hubby are certainly not responsible for that society's ills
( ... )
LOL at history/drama teacher! That would be an ideal, of course, but a teacher must be allowed to find a middle ground and we must all live with being treated as part of a group, when it's in a positive sense.
And I'd love to be in your social science class! :-D
Pro-human is good. :-) Feminism is that, actually; making things better for women have positive effects on the society for the whole country: health, education, housing, economising. I don't mean that 'all men do are baaaaad', not at all.
Strange, about Lily. Was it her 'job' to 'save' Snape, because she was a woman, and a loving woman - REALLY loving woman, like in the GOOD fairytales - will always change the dragon into a knight again? Strange how that's so rare in real life. Strange how men run off and follow their own will and ambition anyway. Like Snape did, despite Lily's ultimatum. It was SNAPE'S choice, in the end. And Lily made hers. Shocking? True to how humans do, I'd say.
This is totally true. In Canada, for example, it's illegal to ask for certain information like race/ethnicity. While in some ways that's good--for example, you can't be discriminated against if they don't see you in person--at the same time that makes it easy to miss widespread correlation between things like race and poverty (which is the problem they've come up against in the past several years).
It's all very complicated and annoying. I imagine quite a lot of it comes from unconscious bias and prejudice that will take a long time to change.
There are many times when we're all a part of a group. Like I discussed with keep_counting above: in a school class, it's very hard for a teacher to acknowledge the individuality of each and every student all the time. We must be a part of a group and of a team several times, and for the best of all, there must be conclusions made based on the group.
That's not the problem. The problem is when there are made wrongful assumptions about the group, based on heresay, too little research or just plain ignorance or prejudice. Then, there will be conclusions like 'this group of ... is bad, because...'
It is, without doubt, a part of the human mind to find faults in others, many times to make ourselves look better. We are also very keen on categorizing people into groups. When these people with certain tendencies group themselves and form opinions based on things that aren't true, (think Nazis, for instance) then we have severe problems
( ... )
Comments 18
Perhaps the solution to this all is that everyone isn't equal and putting pressure on them to be so is causing more problems than it can possibly solve?
(Also, if equality means I have to be responsible in part for government mistakes, I'm not sure I want to be equal. I am perfectly happy not being at all involved in politics).
Reply
How do you feel that you're responsible for government mistakes, is there something special on your mind there? *curious*
Reply
Heh, no, nothing in particular; rather, with the 'right' to vote comes the sharing of responsibility when things go wrong. Prior to votes for women, you also couldn't logically blame them for political problems :) (I also think it hilarious that Americans are All For Equality, and yet irrationally afraid of communism, which is based solely on the principal of everyone being equal. As a political aside. I would much rather have the opportunity to become 'equal' than have 'equality' thrust upon me. But then I'm a freak who likes to earn things.)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Hubby & I are both white, heterosexual and middle-aged. That doesn't mean that we have every advantage. Watch our kids try to get into college if the school hasn't met their "minority quota" or hubby or I try to get a job if the business hasn't met their "minority quota". No matter if we are more qualified. That's not equality. For anyone.
Everything hubby and I have, we got because we worked hard for it and still are, just to keep our heads above water. Because of who we are, we don't get help, even when we did need it. That's not equality, either. We will never truly be "equal" until we don't look at if someone is white or not, heterosexual or not, Christian or not, male or not. We are all who we are by an accident of birth and we are the ones who determine ( ... )
Reply
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
And I'd love to be in your social science class! :-D
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Strange, about Lily. Was it her 'job' to 'save' Snape, because she was a woman, and a loving woman - REALLY loving woman, like in the GOOD fairytales - will always change the dragon into a knight again? Strange how that's so rare in real life. Strange how men run off and follow their own will and ambition anyway. Like Snape did, despite Lily's ultimatum. It was SNAPE'S choice, in the end. And Lily made hers. Shocking? True to how humans do, I'd say.
Reply
(because I haven't had caffeine yet and don't have anything smart to add to this lovely piece)
Reply
I overuse that shieldmaiden on you, but you are awesome!
Reply
Reply
It's all very complicated and annoying. I imagine quite a lot of it comes from unconscious bias and prejudice that will take a long time to change.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
That's not the problem. The problem is when there are made wrongful assumptions about the group, based on heresay, too little research or just plain ignorance or prejudice. Then, there will be conclusions like 'this group of ... is bad, because...'
It is, without doubt, a part of the human mind to find faults in others, many times to make ourselves look better. We are also very keen on categorizing people into groups. When these people with certain tendencies group themselves and form opinions based on things that aren't true, (think Nazis, for instance) then we have severe problems ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment