brandon237 said:
Unfortunately a good portion of social and work interaction does change because of gender. In my country that is taken very literally: We have an "affirmative action" policy here, now after apartheid, it kinda makes sense, but it is also the complete wrong way to go about this. The system goes according to race first, in any major company or government business, the lighter your skin, the lower down the list your application goes, by law. Within race, women's applications go above men's. And the pass levels for university courses are lower for people of colour. The strange thing: They don't even benefit! Recently a group of black students took a university to court! They said that the policy was racist and insulting to them as it implied they were less intelligent. Many individuals, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation et cetera will strive for true equality and think about these things, but most of society, the rest of the bunch with the "sheep instinct" tend to shy away from reform and perpetuate stereotypes and cultural bias at every turn.
What really needs to happen is for people to be educated on these things, as part of schooling they should be forced to try and take a neutral outlook on these things, even if only for a few assignments, and open discussion and education should be encouraged, but the masses, they do not like this idea... open discussion has never been the schooling system's strong point
Tell me about it... in Greece, it is a man's DUTY (meaning it's compulsory) to serve in the army for an 18-month period RIGHT AFTER you graduate from high school.
When I finally started my university studies, women who had the same age as me were a year and a half CLOSER to finishing theirs.
Which also means, they'll be a year and a half CLOSER TO FINDING A BLOODY JOB than me.
Anyway, enough with Greece's antiquitated drafting system.
I have to congratulate you for stressing perhaps the most important point in solving all gender/sexism issues: education. I am unaware of the situation in other countries, but in Greece, schools became mixed (both male and female students) in 1984! That's about thirty years earlier. It is this reason, I believe, that has resulted in the teachers' behaviour I mentioned earlier to be like that.
The most important thing here, is for both parties to fully understand what their role in nature is and how to become better at it. NO, I am NOT referring to a gender role, yet the role of humankind in general. For instance, my role (art, creation) is different than my friend's (science, discovery), and we're both male. One's role is based on one's personality, psychological traits and their intellectual habits: who they are,
regardless of gender, is going to determine what they will want to do.
Unfortunately, most people either want to repress others (some men) or want to retaliate for past situations (some women). But, why, why, why can't we understand that only by the combination of our psyches can we achieve the vita aeterna. Anger and hatred are destructive forces that will only aid in inducing more pain and suffering; we should focus in building a better world for all of us instead.
Please, forgive me for the somewhat poetic last paragraph. My point is, in short, that it is not gender that makes us who we are. It is how we think, what we feel, what we wish for. Frankly, I don't care about such gender issues anymore. Back in high school, yep, I could have killed some of my idiotic teachers and classmates, but now I just don't care. As long as there are people who can fully understand that the two gender are equal, I think I'm going to be fine.
