this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2024
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There is a fine line between valid criticism of gender roles & sexism.
An example of the former would be, "Men are dangerous for women". Of course not all men are dangerous, but it describes the experience of many women & how they have to navigate the world, to not be assaulted.
This one describes the dynamic of a relationship between individuals & assigns a thought pattern to one of those individuals, based on their gender.
Maybe I missed some nuances here & I would be glad to be enlightened, but this looks like plain sexism.
There's a long, documented, researched, history of men being raised to expect things from women. It's not just housework but all kinds of things are taken much more seriously when a woman does something "wrong" than when a man does. It takes a lot of serious introspection and effort to break out of that programming so it's not a surprise that the majority of men don't, or only do so partially. The default state is that this stuff is sort of "invisible" because it seems so normal to how things are. So no, this is a factual description of a "standard" behaviour for men that only some are able to avoid.
If you at all accept that there are harmful but culturally ingrained gender roles then this is a natural consequence of that for anyone who hasn't deeply and actively questioned them. Then as those roles are indeed slowly being broken down it stands to reason that each successive generation is less willing to put up with them - but if you still see them as normal it will come as a surprise.
Except...entrenched gender roles are normal. This is expected human behaviour for 90% of the world. Equality, be it gender, age, ethnic or religious, is...just not how things work. It may be distasteful for you personally, but the rest of humanity doesn't give a toss - Western civilisation is a thin smear of civility which only popped up in the past couple of hundred years, and what's worked quite well for millennia is what's still working pretty effectively for several billion people.
There is no absolute right and absolute wrong to gender equality, and that there is a regression or progression over time, merely opinions shaped by culture, background and opportunities. The events of the past 10 years have convinced me that the "good" parts of liberalism are unsustainable because people at their core are just...selfish. The only way to convince them to change something is if it is in their self interest. Regrettably, equality rarely aligns with self interest because it requires relinquishing something. Equality and equity of opportunity only exist when the opportunity exist. Otherwise it's back to the dumb old shit we used to do.
Edited to add:
I didn't phrase it well above,
The ground state for humanity is inequality. Whether we wish it or not.
The pursuit of equality and equity means these things need to be prioritised above other things.
It is hard to convince people to prioritise something they are not invested in, especially if they don't benefit from it or value it.
"Normal" is a fluid term. It changes based on what the majority thinks. At some point slavery was normal and a part of life. But we as a society decided that we should move away from oppressive systems that marginalize and discriminate.
So, while it's true that in many cultures "entrenched gender roles" are considered normal, that doesn't mean certain people aren't suffering from it. In fact, it doesn't require much debate to acknowledge that in a system where there’s a power imbalance (in other words, inequality), there will inevitably be an oppressed group, and therefore, suffering.
As long as you consider "reducing the amount of suffering" an "absolute good/right", then abolishing entrenched gender roles is an absolute good. Promoting gender equality doesn't mean that women are prohibited from going to the kitchen and men must be stay-at-home dads. It simply ensures that these roles are a matter of personal choice rather than societal imposition.
Moreover, gender equality is not solely a liberal value; it has been promoted in various ideologies, including socialist and communist systems. While the practical implementation has varied, these systems have often supported the idea of gender equality alongside broader social reforms.