Gender Justice. . . A Developing Idea. . .
I've never truly been comfortable
with the diction of "gender equality." But in a world of catch phrase
development terms, you tend to go with what you have. And it sounded reasonable
enough. But recently I listened to a discussion on that reminded me of why I've
never been 100% comfortable with the term.
"Again I would argue feminism has nothing to do with what is between your legs. Feminism has everything to do with what is between your ears. It is a way of thinking, it is an ideology of intersectional gender justice. Not equality, justice. Equality has also a very slippery slope. What are we trying to be equal to? Men don't have such a great time in the world either right now. Sorry, but it's really true. Many men suffer under indignities that are extremely unfair. Patriarchy puts a huge burden on men in ways that I don't even think we have begun to unpack. So let's talk about it in a different way."
This is an exert from a talk given in March 2018 by Kavita Ramdas (former President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women) at the CSIS discussion "Celebrating Women and Girls: Agents for Food and Nutrition Security in Conflict Settings". While I understand people use the term gender equality to mean equal opportunities for both men and women, I also hear it used to describe a woman trying to get to the level/ position/ rights/ opportunities of a man. As if the position of all men is so far greater than a woman's, women should strive to be where men are. Is that the message?
"Again I would argue feminism has nothing to do with what is between your legs. Feminism has everything to do with what is between your ears. It is a way of thinking, it is an ideology of intersectional gender justice. Not equality, justice. Equality has also a very slippery slope. What are we trying to be equal to? Men don't have such a great time in the world either right now. Sorry, but it's really true. Many men suffer under indignities that are extremely unfair. Patriarchy puts a huge burden on men in ways that I don't even think we have begun to unpack. So let's talk about it in a different way."
This is an exert from a talk given in March 2018 by Kavita Ramdas (former President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women) at the CSIS discussion "Celebrating Women and Girls: Agents for Food and Nutrition Security in Conflict Settings". While I understand people use the term gender equality to mean equal opportunities for both men and women, I also hear it used to describe a woman trying to get to the level/ position/ rights/ opportunities of a man. As if the position of all men is so far greater than a woman's, women should strive to be where men are. Is that the message?
I also struggle with what equality
is exactly and how we know when we get there. Is equality always 50/50
representation? My thoughts go to the current Malawi 50/50 Campaign. By
nature of the word equal, anything other than 50/50 representation in
government, job settings, college admissions, etc. is actually unequal.
UNICEF describes gender equality as meaning “women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections.” A question that comes to my mind is, in a perfect utopia, where men and women did all have the same choices and opportunities, would we still see unequal representation in their choices resulting in a feeling of a certain industry still being dominated by one sex and therefore feeling unequal? UNICEF goes on to say gender equality “does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike.” But the nature of the word equal is that things are the same. Half here and half there. The word equal means “evenly proportioned or balanced, alike in quantity, degree, value.” So even if UNICEF doesn’t take equality in a quite literal sense, the connotation is still there. The connotation that begs the question, what are we really trying to be equal to? Are we striving for equality in a system of patriarchy or are we looking for something else? If this is not exactly what we are looking for and we do believe men and women can be different yet both immensely and inherently valuable, then maybe we can find a different word. Because we could have a society with laws about equality in how we hire and fire but would that world necessarily be more just?
A synonym for “equality” found in the thesaurus is “justice.” And I do believe justice so better describes what we really are looking for. So I agree with the thought by Kavita that we are working towards an “ideology of intersectional gender justice.” Justice in the way both men and women are seen when applying for a position or in planning their future or in setting their family size. Justice in how our worth is seen as humans based on our sex. Justice in our interactions with one another. Justice in how we raise and teach our children.
I enjoy these definitions of justice: the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims; the quality of being just, impartial, or fair.
When thinking about the definitions above, one may realize that what is fair and just may not always be equal. This links into the idea of equity. But as humans, I believe what we are looking for is an impartial view and adjustment against conflicting claims that because we are women/men we cannot . . [fill in the blank] . . and because we are men/woman we must . . [fill in the blank].
As a Christian, I believe the Bible calls us to partner with Jesus in bringing justice and restoration to what's been broken. And yes, the dynamics between men and women have been broken. So we are called to bring life, love, grace, mercy and generosity. Where we love our neighbors and treat them in a just and fair manner.
There's a story in James chapter 2 where Jesus rebukes the unjust and unfair treatment of a poor man versus a rich man. And it's not because the two are unequal in wealth that He rebukes but because of the way they are treated due to their differences. The rich man is given the head of the table and the poor man given the floor to sit on. One is given more rights/respect/privileges than the other not for anything they have done but simply because of their economic status. In my mind, I picture some of the cultural norms I saw when living in rural Kasungu and Balaka where sometimes women would sit on the ground at funerals, churches, meetings, etc. while men sit on chairs. And while I’m a staunch defender of preserving culture, every person regardless of culture must consider are we treating others with love and justice? The Christians in this story are called to rebuke favoritism by “loving your neighbor as yourself.”
Anatomically, men and women are different. And beyond anatomically, psychologists have debated if there is evidence of ways in which men and women are different in terms of brain processing, chemistry, structure and activity (Article 1 and Article 2). But even if we are different- it's not a bad thing. What we need is not to try and make men and women more equal but to treat any differences that may be seen in a just, fair and righteous way. And where views are biased, to adjust those conflicting claims that women cannot be engineers, that men cannot be emotional, that men must have more power because women are weak, that men are unable to control their sexual desires, that a woman cannot be a terrific single mom while having a successful career. This idea also still leaves plenty of room to track gender indicators and analyze differences that we see as such data helps open our eyes to injustices that exist in the world.
To adjust society where unfairly aligned, that is justice. And that is what I fight for. Gender Justice.
UNICEF describes gender equality as meaning “women and men, and girls and boys, enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities and protections.” A question that comes to my mind is, in a perfect utopia, where men and women did all have the same choices and opportunities, would we still see unequal representation in their choices resulting in a feeling of a certain industry still being dominated by one sex and therefore feeling unequal? UNICEF goes on to say gender equality “does not require that girls and boys, or women and men, be the same, or that they be treated exactly alike.” But the nature of the word equal is that things are the same. Half here and half there. The word equal means “evenly proportioned or balanced, alike in quantity, degree, value.” So even if UNICEF doesn’t take equality in a quite literal sense, the connotation is still there. The connotation that begs the question, what are we really trying to be equal to? Are we striving for equality in a system of patriarchy or are we looking for something else? If this is not exactly what we are looking for and we do believe men and women can be different yet both immensely and inherently valuable, then maybe we can find a different word. Because we could have a society with laws about equality in how we hire and fire but would that world necessarily be more just?
A synonym for “equality” found in the thesaurus is “justice.” And I do believe justice so better describes what we really are looking for. So I agree with the thought by Kavita that we are working towards an “ideology of intersectional gender justice.” Justice in the way both men and women are seen when applying for a position or in planning their future or in setting their family size. Justice in how our worth is seen as humans based on our sex. Justice in our interactions with one another. Justice in how we raise and teach our children.
I enjoy these definitions of justice: the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims; the quality of being just, impartial, or fair.
When thinking about the definitions above, one may realize that what is fair and just may not always be equal. This links into the idea of equity. But as humans, I believe what we are looking for is an impartial view and adjustment against conflicting claims that because we are women/men we cannot . . [fill in the blank] . . and because we are men/woman we must . . [fill in the blank].
As a Christian, I believe the Bible calls us to partner with Jesus in bringing justice and restoration to what's been broken. And yes, the dynamics between men and women have been broken. So we are called to bring life, love, grace, mercy and generosity. Where we love our neighbors and treat them in a just and fair manner.
There's a story in James chapter 2 where Jesus rebukes the unjust and unfair treatment of a poor man versus a rich man. And it's not because the two are unequal in wealth that He rebukes but because of the way they are treated due to their differences. The rich man is given the head of the table and the poor man given the floor to sit on. One is given more rights/respect/privileges than the other not for anything they have done but simply because of their economic status. In my mind, I picture some of the cultural norms I saw when living in rural Kasungu and Balaka where sometimes women would sit on the ground at funerals, churches, meetings, etc. while men sit on chairs. And while I’m a staunch defender of preserving culture, every person regardless of culture must consider are we treating others with love and justice? The Christians in this story are called to rebuke favoritism by “loving your neighbor as yourself.”
Anatomically, men and women are different. And beyond anatomically, psychologists have debated if there is evidence of ways in which men and women are different in terms of brain processing, chemistry, structure and activity (Article 1 and Article 2). But even if we are different- it's not a bad thing. What we need is not to try and make men and women more equal but to treat any differences that may be seen in a just, fair and righteous way. And where views are biased, to adjust those conflicting claims that women cannot be engineers, that men cannot be emotional, that men must have more power because women are weak, that men are unable to control their sexual desires, that a woman cannot be a terrific single mom while having a successful career. This idea also still leaves plenty of room to track gender indicators and analyze differences that we see as such data helps open our eyes to injustices that exist in the world.
To adjust society where unfairly aligned, that is justice. And that is what I fight for. Gender Justice.
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