An online CNN headline reads: How to teach children about gender equality. The closing sentence after a fairly well-sized article and accompanying video says, “When I asked them [5th and 6th grade students] if they would tell their sons and daughters that girls and boys are different, they unanimously said they would tell their kids that girls and boys are equal.”
Perhaps an English lesson might be helpful. Different and equal are not antonyms. Furthermore, equal is a meaningless word if you don’t define what you are comparing. So two dimes and one nickel are equal in monetary value to one quarter, but they are not equal in weight or number.
A lesson in logic might be helpful as well. Stating that women as a group prefer A while men as a group prefer B or that men and women tend to excel in certain areas doesn’t say anything relevant about a particular woman or man or limit an individual in any way. The fact that my friend Robin happens to be a computer geek does not prove that if an overwhelming percentage of top software engineers are male, discrimination or social conditioning is to blame.
The article suggests examining ads and magazines for depictions of men and women and discussing stereotyping and misleading pictures. I’m all for that. It is important to understand how false airbrushed pictures are and how the media seduces us into believing and craving certain things. The author of the article and I would probably agree on some ads that we would both condemn. However, I would also include in the category of awareness learning how prevalent social conditioning is that is trying to do away with the idea of two genders because, subconsciously or not, there is a societal rebellion against the Creator of the concept expressed as, “Male and female He created them.”
It was Max Horkheimer who in 1930’s Germany introduced the pernicious ideas of Freudian psychology to classical Marxism, a marriage made in Hell. And the progeny of this marriage was Cultural Marxism, the Institute for Social Research, a.k.a. the Frankfurt School’s proudest achievement.
Cultural Marxism was the rebirth of Georg Lukacs’ 1918 Bolshevik Hungarian policy titled “cultural terrorism” which focused on the objective of targeting of children’s minds through lectures that encouraged them to deride and reject Christian ethics.
Georg Lukacs was subsequently run out of Hungary in 1919 by its citizenry who were outraged at his program. He surfaced again for a “”Marxist Study Week” in 1923 in, you guessed it, Frankfurt Germany.
There is a direct relationship between those early 20th century activities and the cultural rot that we are witnessing in the West today.
And on that cheerful note…Thanks, Peter.
Boy, what an opportunity to open a can of worms…
I guess it all depends on how you choose to define gender equality. If it means having similar opportunities, and receiving similar wages, then I agree. In my area of expertise (employment) there are currently more males than females, however, females can be just as capable. As far as employees, I believe that women can be just as qualified as men, and should receive equal pay for an equal job.
However, males and females are not the same. The genders are not equal – by design, as best I can tell. Male humans do not have the appropriate organs to birth a baby. In my opinion men seem to be physically stronger than women of a similar size. There are many jobs that both may excel at.
So, there is equality, and then there is equal. These are not the same, but it appears many are getting them confused. Females should be treated equally, and equitably. That does not mean they are necessarily equal – in all aspects, nor does it mean they are worse. They are different.
My point exactly, David. I hope it came across.