So, what would full equality for women look like? Or women AND men?

[Remember Me]

If that were how the world worked right now, what would be different?

You would walk out of your house and would see _____what?_____? You WOULDN'T see ____ what? _____?

You'd go to work, and you would see _____what?_____? And you WOULDN'T see ____ what? _____?

You'd turn on the TV and you would see _____what?_____? And you WOULDN'T see ____ what? _____?

I'm curious because women TALK about wanting equality, but I don't hear all that much about what it would actually look like.

[MarianJack]

1. One thing I WOULDN'T see is...

...a congressional hearing on women's health with no women and a panel of alleged experts made up of a bunch of stupid, clueless, incompetent, ignorant and quite possibly incontinent old fart bastard geezer clergymen. YUCK!

PEACE!

[kdmorris]

2. My answers

You would walk out of your house and would see the girls at the bus stop being people. You WOULDN'T see the girls at the bus stop being objects?

You'd go to work, and you would see women getting promotions/pay raises if they are better qualified And you WOULDN'T see men getting promotions/pay raises even though there might be a more qualified woman working there.

You'd turn on the TV and you would see men portrayed men and women portrayed as women And you WOULDN'T see men portrayed as big dumb brutes and women portrayed as sex objects or old and "dried up".

[Remember Me]

4. I don't actually understand your first sentence

I thought I did and so was going to ask for details.

I thought it said the girls at the bus stop would be BEING people and not objects, so I was going to ask you what that looked like. What would they be doing that made it appear they were being PEOPLE not objects.

But I've just re-read it and now I'm utterly confused.

[kdmorris]

5. You gave a scripted "I would see ... but not ..."

The only thing that I see when I walk outside of my house that qualifies for the first sentence is the high school bus stop. (trees, flowers, etc would probably look the same if men and women were equal).

At the high school bus stop, the boys treat the girls there as if they were there for their enjoyment. The world itself doesn't change if we were all truly equal. What changes is the way we treat each other.

So... if it helps... You would walk out of your house and would see the girls at the bus stop being TREATED LIKE people. You WOULDN'T see the girls at the bus stop being TREATED LIKE objects.

Does that help?

[Remember Me]

6. Yeah, that helps. Except you didn't need to take me so literally!

I was just trying to elicit details with my little "script" (which wasn't meant as a script at all), and even so, details still are in very short supply.

Actually, I'm way disappointed so far -- tho not with you. It appears that no one has ever thought this through much, else surely there'd be more responses?

[kestrel91316]

3. It would be seriously lacking in glass ceilings. And the ranks of

elderly POOR women would be greatly diminished over time.

[Remember Me]

7. If you want equality, but can't think of what it looks like, how are you gonna know

1) how to get there and
2) when you've got it?

The lack of participation (or imagination?) on this thread has been disappointing. Maybe it's of no interest to others? Here's what I think: IMAGINING what equality -- or an end to misogyny -- would look like may be absolutely essential to getting there.

Here are some of the things I'm counting on for when women are no longer hated:

a) there won't BE any gender slurs, but also

b) it won't be an insult to compare men to women. Imagine: not an insult to compare men and boys to women and girls. "Don't cry; only little girls cry." "You throw like a girl." And so very many more. Little boys wouldn't be called "sissies" ever again, and big boys (men) wouldn't be called anything like that either. Needless to say, homosexuality would be a complete non-issue.

c) Violence against women including sexual violence would be a thing of the past. Most porn would be a thing of the past. Women would never have a economic or financial reason to engage in sex work -- many more options for making a decent living would be available for ALL women (andof course all men).

d) Ads for all sorts of products that have nothing to do with women (beer, car parts, domain hosting sites) would cease having women's scantily clad bodies in them.

e) Taking care of family members from babies to the elderly would be fully undertaken by all members of the family, of both sexes.

f) In fact, everyone in every family (assuming physical ability to do so) would take care of all those "life maintenance tasks" we commonly refer to as housekeeping today. It would completely cease to be "a woman's job" and would become EVERYONE's job, for themselves and other members of the household.

g) ALL places where people work would have not only offer parental leave for births and adoptions, but excellent childcare for all employees. IOW, in the realm of RAISING CHILDREN it would be seen as a community and societal responsibility to support parents and children fully. Parents would no longer feel or be left hanging for childcare, suitable solutions to work versus get to the doctor, etc.

h) 52% of all elected political office, all business Board and top Exec jobs, of all lawyers and judges and all other positions of authority and power would be populated by women.

i) Abortion would be nearly non-existent because of two things: birth control is widely available and extremely affordable (about like aspirin), and enough familial, community and societal support would be available for women that financial issues arguing against pregnancy and birth simply wouldn't exist.

And so much more ....

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. full equality to me would be a vast reduction in prescribed gender roles

so a woman could be the primary bread winner and no one would think twice about it.

a man could be a primary caregiver to a child and it would not be unusual or strange.

I am not advocating that we would reverse roles and establish a new norm for gender, just that there would not be a reduction in prescribed gender normative behavior/clothing/careers etc.


There are other things that i think would accompany a full equality package (no income disparity between genders, women's sexual safety, a vast reduction on the public discourse on abortion and ease of getting an abortion (how many other times do we talk about specific health related procedures?), childcare facilities for working parents and a reduction in things that affect women's life like racism, homophobia, anti-immigrant bias, xenophobia, transphobia etc).

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Full equality would mean that my gender isn't a reason that I'm not allowed to do something.

Last edited Tue Feb 21, 2012, 05:53 PM - Edit history (1)

Full equality as a child would mean that I'm not told that I'm sitting in an unladylike fashion or that I shouldn't get dirty when I'm outside playing. Full equality would also mean that boys who wanted to play with dolls wouldn't be told it was girly. It also means that I won't think that only girls are nurses and only men drive trucks.

Full equality in education would mean that gender stereotypes wouldn't be tolerated. Girls can do math.

Full equality in the workplace would mean that hiring, promotion, and compensation wouldn't be determined in part by my gender. It would also mean a greater recognition of the value of part time workers because both men and women would be looking for the opportunity to continue in their careers while still having enough time to raise their children. From that we might even see more recognition of the value of letting workers go to part time status for other reasons like caring for sick or aging relatives. I also suspect that full equality in the workplace would lead to new ways to structure corporate management.

Full equality in the rest of life? I suspect it would mean that fewer women thought there was something about their appearance that needed to be corrected (as opposed to enhanced) by fashion or beauty products. It would also mean that men don't stand up to offer me a seat or hold the door open because I'm a woman (men AND women should do those things for someone who looks like s/he needs the help.) My health care access and choices wouldn't be used by politicians to score points with their bases.

Basically, full equality to me means that I don't have to spend much time thinking about gender at all.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. amen

Basically, full equality to me means that I don't have to spend much time thinking about gender at all.