Do a lot of feminist misinterprete or even missunderstand the therm equality ?

Question

Yes we are all supposed to be threated equal in front of the law with the same rights and obligations and the same opportunities. (access to public schools). Yet a lot of the ladies claim women are not equal to men unless 50% of the janitors firemen scientists and so on are women or untill women will demand similiar salaries to men on average. I do not grasp this concept. Based on it the president of the united states should be angered beyond believe that with running the goddamn country and shouldering all that responsibility he makes vastly less money than a top NBA player.

Deidre your emotional outburst and ranting is the perfect exampel why so many women think there are so many "womanhaters" on this board. It looks like womanhater and misyogonist have meanings i have yet to research and grasp.

Answer 1

yes a lot of feminists misinterpret and misunderstand the term equality

the greater possible meaning of the word is clouded by feminists egos and small self-interests
whatever serves a feminist IS equal
whatever does not serve a feminist IS not equal
duh!

feminists are like children
wanting an ice cream cone

AND you had better give it to them, equal or not or expect tantrums like Baba Yagas

Answer 2

Most of the feminists I talk to seem to understand equal worth... which is NOT the same as using quotas to achieve 50% representation in a given field.

An illustration I often use in other discussions is to differentiate between who you ARE and what you DO.
Men and women ARE different in some ways, but men and women can DO almost all of the same things (notice I said ALMOST, so there's no need to make a list of the exceptions, I know there are some), and feminists just want the opportunity to DO.
And if they DO the same work as man, they should be awarded the same compensation he receives.

Another good example that I like to use is this:
1+ 4 = 5
2 +3 = 5
Different, but equal.

Answer 3

I can absolutely respect a feminist that believes equal=equal=equal 100% of the time.

However, very few actually believe that men and women should be identically (equally) treated in all situations. That IS what feminism, by definition, is supposed to be.

The problem arises when persons that claim to be feminists make "exceptions" to this in various situations.

So, they "SAAAAY" they believe in and demand equality, but happily make exceptions when it is advantageous.

If a feminist is not even consistent in wanting "equality" ALL THE TIME what's there to respect?

If you believe in something, practice it consistently, not only when it is advantageous. You may not be loved or liked, but you will be respected.

EDIT:

Perfect example of this misinterpretation:

Men and women have the identical (equal) opportunity to negotiate salaries. Equal opportunity to turn down a job if they don't like the offer. Equal opportunity to walk into the boss' office and demand a raise.

However, some women (and men) believe that an employer is supposed to treat women differently - he is supposed to (they say) negotiate FOR her, to ensure that her salary "equal" to any man in the same position. NO. That is HER job. He shouldn't do it for a man OR a woman.

Let every man and woman fend for themselves. It's business not a daycare.

Men and women have the same rights AND responsibilities. THAT is equality.

Answer 4

Nope, from what I've seen, most grasp it perfectly. It's "others" on here that don't seem to get it.
Most feminists understand that when you speak of equality, it means "social equality".
http://www.answers.com/topic/social-equality
This is not a mathematical concept. Thus, no one who understands this believes that "everything should be mathmatically equal-50/50. Such as the necessity for "50% female lawyers, 50% male lawyers." This is not a true meaning of the term social equality.
The concept of "social equality" means that ALL humans are deserving of equal opportunity (NOT equal outcome) and equal consideration in social and political matters. It's very simple really, yet I see a lot of people on this forum (who are generally NOT feminists) confusing this definition with the "mathematical equality" definition. They are two entirely different concepts.

Answer 5

What you're saying in your update is structural functionalist theory, which is correct, to an extent. Jobs of comparable worth should be paid equally, but our definition of "worth" is skewed - when pay equity was established, it only addressed the exact same jobs and did not reassess pay in different jobs, though they required arguably the same skill level.

And no one's saying anyone has to be 50% of anything, but when it comes to public services or government, the make-up should ideally reflect the ethnic and gendered distribution of the country - that's the only way to govern fairly and make sure that everyone's interests are represented (though I am starting to become cynical that we are even governed in the interests of the people; rather governments are dictated by transnational corporations, but that's a discussion for another day). As for everything else, there should be equal opportunity for everyone instead of "men's jobs" and "women's jobs/pink collar."

Answer 6

Many mistreated groups tend to want to be on the heavy end of the teeter toter and thus they sometimes unknowingly make themselves out to be worth ,in some sense, more.
Example:
Your little brother gets five dollars. You say "Mom, I want some cash too ,but due to my advanced age and the oppressive nature of your previous wage distributions I will be requiring $7.50." You are obviously a much older brother or any annoying little snot of a thesaurus.

Answer 7

Were You trying to say 'Treated', or 'Threatened' equally?
No. I firmly believe that it is others who have not grasped Their philosophy and use whatever they can to vilify them, one presumes for their own gain.

Answer 8

No, we've got it down. Mathematically, equality may mean sameness, but on a personal level, equality means having the same worth.

EDIT: I meant in general, as in, men as people are not superior to women and vice-versa.

Answer 9

Nope feminists do not MISINTERPRET or MISUNDERSTAND the TERM equality. I know exactly what it is and you do not. Otherwise you would not be posting such a blatantly sexist, bias, question.

Answer 10

I don't think so... do you have an example of someone misusing the word equality?