UnitedIssues U.S. Political Debates - Debate

"Are we all equal?"

Original Opinion by ekoc (21)

No offense to anybody, but there are so many differences in this world between the two genders. Should we all be treated the same? Is it fair that females have more rights than men now a days? What happened to us being "equal"? Is this still in effect today?

Responses

"Equality isn't truly attainable..." by JamesBufkin (25)

In our imperfect world where corruption sometimes runs rampant and people who are honestly trying to help are used by others for ulterior motives, it does not seem possible to be completely equal. Because there are so many special interest groups that lobby the government the equality factor is lost somewhere in the politics. Of course being an idealist i do think we should all be treated equally but, that being said, I don't think that, with our society in its current state, there can be actual equality without some kind of exploitation. As for women having more rights than men, I'm not sure about that. I don't think it is that they have more rights, it's more a matter of how men perceive the world as "being lost to women". The left over misogyny in our culture has the side effect of making it seem as though us men are losing more ground, but we're just evening the playing field. In conclusion equality is a pipe dream but that doesn't mean we can't get close to having it permeate our society.

"Hahaha" by RobotKen (9)

You think women are getting special treatment? Okay, let's see you work just as hard as your co-workers, but only get paid 75 cents for every dollar they make, and then we'll see if you still think women are getting more rights.

In a three-year study of 30,996 financial-services managers, analysis showed that most women have to work to earn a management position while most men are simply hired into them. Also, women who reach high positions receive less promotions than their male counterparts. Let's see you work harder than the guy next to you while he is more likely to get that promotion.

Let's see you put your career ambitions on hold because you get pregnant, and spend 9 months waddling around in pain while your spouse complains that you have more rights than him/her.

Let's see you live up to an impossible standard of beauty, while being 3 times more susceptible to depression, and expected to be both a professional and a homemaker--- lets see you do ALL that our women do, and then maybe you'd be in a position to claim that they get special treatment.

Source(s):

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay.htm
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ578875&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ578875

"We are not equal..." by Vultren (85)

Think about it, if the world was split up, men on one half and females on one half. Giving same resources of course and went to war with each other. The men would beat them, in battle and in technology.

Point is we are not equal. Females, because they are weaker (which physically they are) are treated differently then men.

Before we cleared the site of the old debates, one similar to this was made. An argument was over fire fighters and physical standards in which I agree 100%. Men have a physical test and women have a physical test to become a firefighter. In the end, they are both going for the same job, and in real life there won't be the "easy" part when they are rushing in a building. Is it fair men have to do the more challenging test and women don't when both going into a job that requires strength when you need it?

Also think about where men are treated less too. Some places such as Hooters, men aren't allowed to get jobs just because of their sex. But a female can get a job anywhere a man can... just think about it.

"vesaversa" by vesaversa (9)

No the train tracks have always separated us for centuries . There is a two tier system for the white man and one for peoples of color in this country .

"Lol" by Ronws23 (16)

That's what chivalry is for. Most guys follow it, and because of it girls get free meals on dates, nice jewelery and open doors.


We are getting really close to equal in America, but in The Middle East and China...not so much. Be grateful we live in Western Culture

"My two cents..." by Wood0173 (9)

I feel that we all have our strengths and weakness no matter what age, sex and race we are but feel that laws in regards to such things to create equality do more harm than good. It almost seems to me as this really may our downfall. It is a matter of time before we are supposed to have equal number of blacks, whites, latinos, men and women holding office. I think that one would have to at least consider such a notion in the future, as the ball can roll that far. Is this is a risk that we want to take or do we want to have the best and the most responsible left in charge of our house and senate at every single level of the government--especially being that the masses are so hell-bent on having the thing continue to grow as opposed to shrink?

"Ridiculous" by renton723 (9)

Why are people so afraid of affirmative action? It doesn't mean that the minority individual will be hired every time. It just means that a minority individual will be more likely to be accepted into a university, job, or anything else. If there is an individual of European ancestry and one of Latino ancestry and they are vying for the same job, they have the same qualifications, same skill sets, and they are basically the same in every respect. The Latino will be more likely to get the job.

"I wonder ?" by mrmeangenes (23)

Are Equal Opportunity laws/rules actually harming White males - or is that a cop-out by the under-qualified when they lose out to someone hungrier than them ?

(Before heads start to explode, let me hasten to point out I really don't know the answer !)

"We are not equal" by BassemElghetany (12)

Equality is an ideal. There will always be at least one person who will discriminate based on gender, religion, age, or some other qualifying point.

The point is, that we will never be equal, as a whole. There are places that will be more equal than others, with or without affirmative action. There will be places that are completely biased and corrupt.

"Vultren" by WIz766 (11)

I agree. Given the same resources men would surpass the women. It is just a fact that women are not "built" as strong fast or as tough as men.

I also remember in high school doing "fitness days" the standards were ALWAYS set higher for men. We had to run faster miles, more push ups, more crunches, stretch farther(as I can recall), lift more weight.

Its not that I hate women, but in todays world women are not equal and I cannot see them ever being able to stand foot for foot with a man.

"Cultural Bias" by Gaelin (85)

Let's look at your example an prejudiced thinking: you point out that in school fitness standards were always set higher for men. does this demonstrate that women are weaker than men? no, it demonstrates that our society thinks they are. Vultren, you say that if men and women fought a war men would win because of physical/technological superiority. first off, men would only have a small advantage in close quarters unarmed combat, which is rare on modern battlefields. second, you claim that men would have technological superiority? this can only be attributed to a belief that men are more intelligent than women, which has been completely disproven. Our cultural bias is reponsible for making women weak by telling them from day one that they are. As an example that shows the impact of culture, look at the historical african Kingdom of Dahomey, which had a female army. and army that was feared for it's strength and ferocity throughout the region, and that helped the kingdom survive for hundreds of years.

"Actually " by Teddyroosevelt (45)

All the facts say women actually have more economic power then men probably and no offense to women but you spend your money in alot a different things purses jewelry crap like that creates alot of jobs it really helps that they spend hundreds of dollars on generally useless stuff