Gender Equality is Beneficial for Men Too

When most people hear the words 'gender equality' what often comes to their minds is a picture of women physically struggling with men for position, of women heckling men and shouting in the streets, burning bras and running about with the aim of pummelling men into submission. 

That is a general and widespread misconception that needs to be changed. Gender equality is not about shifting power bases to favour the female sex alone, it is about equalising the systems so that both sexes have the same rights and access to economic resources without fear or harassment. It is about providing the framework that underpins the freedom of both sexes to express themselves in any way they want without impinging on the next person's rights.

Gender equality is not just for women, when it is achieved, it will provide the opportunity for men to behave in ways and do things that they couldn't have done in the past due to traditional expectations. 

Such behaviours may include a shift in attitudes towards men having to be seen as the breadwinner, it might allow men to explore their feelings, they will have the freedom to express their emotions rather than bottling them up and using anger and aggression as means of release. A male member of this forum shared with me that one reason why men die earlier is because of this bottling up of emotions. Realisation of gender equality may even free some men of the responsibility of asking a girl out or to marry them. Imagine that, no more games. I think that would be a relief for some. What about the burden of paying a dowry? That financial obligation might disappear and the marital home could in time become a level playing field, with no threats of returned dowries. In the area of leadership, gender equality will free men from guess work when it comes to making decisions about female issues. There is a popular saying, only the wearer of the shoe knows how it pinches. When we have a gender balanced government, people who have experienced and understand the situation will be part of the decision making resulting in better policies for all the represented people and fewer dissatisfied people, definitely a good place to be in. I have no doubt that realising gender equality will benefit men too. My prayer and hope is that we can reach it quickly.

These are just a few examples I can think of but I am sure there are others. Can you think of any? As they say, two heads are better than one so please share any thoughts you have on this.


Anuli