Equitability II

I recall the good ol' NLC days when we used to argue on my brief but meaningful involvement in student politics as Womyn's Officer. A lot of people, women included, mistake the mainstream feminist movement to advocate a very literal definition of equality. It's really not about not letting a man open doors for you, or how much weight a woman can lift (yes... this got into some
debates). It's about equal opportunity and equal recognition. It's about removing gender biases, and changing perceptions.

It's about walking into a meeting room full of men and not assuming that the only woman is the secretary. It's about hiring the only female candidate as a facilities manager because she can do the work, rather than worrying that she won't be able to manage the men because she's a woman (hats off to Trevor!).

It's about giving equal reward to the guy who worked the hardest to fix a technical problem and a woman who manages to sell an idea. It's about giving a woman the same chances as a man at the workplace, and not assigning roles based on our personal biases to what a woman can/cannot do. It's about setting the same limits to your daughter that you would to your son. It's about changing our language - in our minds and in our lives, when communicating what a woman does. It's about equal interpretation of personal qualities, assertiveness in a woman should be as revered as when found in a man. It's about women not setting self-imposed gender biases for ourselves, and imagining glass ceilings where there are/should be none.