There’s much talk about the equality of the sexes these days.
It wasn’t always that way. Women were delegated to Kinder,
Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen and church). Many fields, such
as higher education, medicine or engineering, were closed to them.
A woman’s pay was about half of what a man earned for
identical work.
World War II caused a change in that inequality. While the men
were fighting the enemy, women had to take over in the homeland.
"Rosie the Riveter" worked in the factories, the farmer’s wife managed
the farm, women pitched in wherever men once labored. Lo and behold,
they did an admirable job.
The time had finally come to grant women a better education. Not
surprisingly, women turned into good doctors, bright scientists, and
capable engineers. They’ve become astronauts and explore space.
Equality at last. Well, not quite yet, but we’re getting there.
Let me define equality of the sexes. Does it mean that there’s
no difference between the sexes? Not at all. Men and women may have as
little in common as Cabbages and Kings.
As the Walrus says in Lewis Carroll’s Through
the Looking-Glass:
"The
time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk
of many things:
Of shoes--and
ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages
and kings …
And why the
sea is boiling hot--
And
whether pigs have wings."
The variety of topics that the Walrus suggests is just as broad
as the range and depth of the differences between men and women.
The French have a colorful saying for it: Vive la difference!
Women may have adopted the male fashion of wearing pants. So
be it. The Scotts used to wear skirts, but neither clothes nor gender
affects the value of a person. Look at the snowflake — not two are alike,
nor are two human thumbprints, much less two women or two men,
not even identical twins. Nature abounds in variety.
We may be tempted to classify all rats and mosquitoes as
“annoying pests.” Yet rats and mosquitoes might feel quite hurt by our
flagrant oversimplification.
Men and women will never be identical,
but they need to be equal before the law and in their opportunities
of pursuing happiness.
Goodbye to all bias based on gender!
Until next time,
Rosi
