The way I see it, we still need to address the ways men and women are culturally viewed and treated not only in western countries but worldwide. Women have been mistreated for far too long, and it's time to put an end to it. No woman should ever be treated as lesser because of her gender. And men are trapped too. Not to the extent women are, but with how much pressure men are under to be utterly masculine, there is a problem. Femininity is often looked down on culturally, which is awful. Masculinity and femininity are complementary and are both vital. There are also larger issues men face, such as male rape and domestic abuse victims not being taken seriously, especially if their abuser was a woman. This may not be as common as female rape and domestic abuse victims being mistreated by a man, but it does happen far more than people realize. The fact that boys are also being left behind in education is not acceptable. Boys need just as support as girls do. The issue of men receiving higher prison sentences for the same crimes as women and women being favored in custody arrangements because of their gender is an issue as well. Misogyny traps us all. Regulus mentioned earlier that going against gender roles goes against our evolution. I'm not totally inclined to agree. I'm not denying that there are obvious differences between men and women. But an interesting book I read recently pointed out something I agree with. What makes a biological male and female doesn't change. That's been the same for thousands of years, but being a man or a woman is largely cultural and is subject to change, as we've seen all the strides women in western countries have made over the last century. Perhaps an argument could be made that men are more inclined to being masculine and women to being feminine, but it isn't totally set in stone. Even what masculinity and femininity are varies from culture to culture. The men of ancient Egypt often wore cosmetics. High heels, which are a staple of the female wardrobe today, were once worn by men. Men, or at least upper class men, dressed a lot more colorfully and out there than they do now. It changes over the ages. A lot of it is culture rather than biology, and we go against our biology all the time. Gender roles have changed a lot. Nothing is truly set in stone. And with regards to women's employment and how some have made the argument that there isn't bias against women in the workforce, that is total bunk. There is total bias against women in the workforce. A lot of is just isn't noticed. There's direct evidence that women are discriminated against in scientific fields by both men and women.
http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474.full 40% of employers don't want to hire younger women to get around maternity leave.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/a ... nity-leave Women are viewed as bossy and viewed more negatively if they assert themselves.
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/ ... qualities_ Even though men and women participating equally increases productivity.
http://blog.mindjet.com/2013/04/gender- ... ductivity/ So don't say there isn't an issue because there is. Sexism is still alive and well in most cultures. Women in western nations have come a long way, and there are definitely women with far less rights than I have, but there are still issues. I'm currently taking a class on women and how we're viewed and treated culturally, and one thing that really struck me was the stories the other young women in my class had to tell. All of them had been affected by sexism in some way, and it horrified me. We've come far, but there is still progress to make.
If women ran the world, there would be less wars and more compassion.[/quote]
