If you believe women are equal to men?

Question

(And I believe that too, FYI)

Why do we need women's studies, feminism, self defense for women courses, etc? There is an inherent contradiction here!

I asked around in my city and they don't offer self defense courses for men. I asked why and all people could say was "gee, umm I dunno".

And why are women exempted from mandatory combat? They're SOOO EQUAL to men, aren't they?

"from HJ"

in that case, self defense courses should be for all people below a certain height/weight. Both men and women.

Answer 1

We're not equal and we never will be equal and well frankly I'm happy with that fact....parts of it suck but others are good...so I'm willing to deal with that

Answer 2

we're not the same, but should have equal rights.

I understand your feelings about the women's studies and self defense courses, but they are there for good reason.

If women were equally represented in studies, then they wouldn't need the specialized course.
and most defense courses are filled with men, and aimed toward a male population.
maybe women are just more sensitive to this kind of thing, but we do better when we are with other women, than against men.

Answer 3

Most unfortunately most white male history is known simply as "History".

Women's Studies and African American History are courses designed to fill in the gaps of what is taught in regular history classes.

Should women and minorities have an equal place in the history books? Of course. But that has yet to happen therefore we must educate people in a way that works with our current reality.

There are plenty of self defense classes for men. They are just called "kick boxing" or "karate". They aren't set aside because men don't care if women are in the class with them. Many women are self conscious esp when it comes to working out (IE the Curves franchise) and would be too embarrassed to get the full benefit of the classes with men there.

Also of course the physical aspects of the course must be changed to accommodate women's strengths (balance/ lower body focus) as opposed to men's strengths (which are mostly upper body focused).

Women and men are different. They should be considered equal citizens (as should every human being) but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't honor our differences.

Answer 4

Totally agree - I've always been confused by this. What about Men's Studies classes or like you said - defense courses for men? It's alomst as if some women are saying "Ok, you men have been more important for too long, now it's our turn." If women want to be so equal to men, why do we get special treament in employment, the military, ect? In my opinion I think women and men should learn about and enjoy each other's differences. We're not the same. That's why we're meant to be life partners. We compliment each other. Neither one is better or more important than the other. We should celebrate our differences!

Answer 5

There was a time when women had virtually no resources, aside from their families in terms of their protection, intellectual and physical development. But then the various women's movements changed a great deal of that.
However, some things stayed the same, including the belief that women are not fit for national services and even within feminism itself (because it was framed as a defense or a response to the world as it was) there is still the notion of woman as the perpetual victim (hence special defense classes for us but not men.)
There are contradictions within feminism but name me a movement where there are not. Feminists everywhere should be aware of the contradictions and work to overcome them. But they should not be subject to anymore censure than any other group.

Answer 6

The reason why women have self defense courses is because we need them the most. How many stories have you heard of a woman abducting and raping a man? Although I do know of a few guys that could use some self defense courses, lol.

Answer 7

of course, we r in a society where women r treated as seconddated citizens.This comes from the history where once women were treated as "just as a part of property". So only men will have property and women is just a part of it.
Equality of men and women is just mental condition of people, which exists in some well developed countries where women work along with men and r having social freedom to participate in everything. But not in our country where still people feel that men r superior.
Moreover naturally women r soft and weak when compared to men this also dominates

Answer 8

I guess maybe because through the millenia, men have been the protectors, so it is kind of bred into them to know self defense. Don't forget that men have more muscle mass and are more capable of taking care of themselves. Women are more often targeted for assault and robbery because they are more defensless. As far as combat, I thought they could? I'm not sure. If not, menstration and hormones may play a role in their denial.

Answer 9

Most women are smaller & of a slighter build than most men.
That's why self-defense courses are geared toward them- basically overcoming a size disadvantage. That's pretty much it as far as I'm concerned.

I'm a female who's taller than the average male, and was taught self-defense by lots of military friends, but I can see the difference.....

Answer 10

men and women are not the same
that's why we are men and women
the equality I believe in is that men can do some of the things that women can do and women can do some of the things that men do. for ex: men can do their own laundry, and women can change the oil in a car. But they are not equal, because equal would imply the same. No, because men can't give birth and women can't give semen. (not yet anyway, science is going crazy)
So, in jobs as well, a woman might not be hired for a job that involves a lot of heavy lifting and men might not be hired for other jobs as well.

Answer 11

Because even though we should be equal we still aren't treated as such. Look at the gender wage gap. Men get far more money for doing the same job as a woman even if the woman has a higher degree. Also, look at the difference in male and female professional sports. The men get more pay and more advertising.