Warbler said:
Gaffer Tape said:
Which part? I agree that sex having an impact on one's opportunity for education is largely a thing of the past. In fact, I think I read recently that women have now managed to edge out the majority of degrees or something to that effect. But that really wasn't the point to begin with.
The point is that these gender-based rules you so cherish, at one point in time, very much did restrict opportunity based on the availability of education. It was not until people began moving past that that the playing field began to level out. Had we continued our way of thinking, never bothered to question it, just shrugged and said, "Well, men and women are just different," then it would have stayed that way. And yet, despite proving how much we limited ourselves based on such preconceptions and how many steps we've taken to put an end to such things on ONE end and how much we pat ourselves on the back for it, it's amazing how people still draw a line in the sand and say, "Nope. Gotta stop here. It just ain't right."
Did you ever stop to consider the possibility that maybe there is something instinctual/hormonal/whatever in men and women that make men more predisposed to liking things like Star Wars and make women more predisposed to liking Disney Princesses, and the same thing with clothing? Please note that I am not saying that these instincts/hormones/whatever make it impossible for men to like Disney Princesses or for women to like Star Wars.
No. I stop to consider that there is maybe something instinctual/hormonal/whatever in INDIVIDUALS that predispose them to liking certain things, and that those traits, to a certain extent, fall in line with certain biological sexes. I feel a lot of it is socially implemented and constructed, and you've actually admitted to that. But regardless of the cause, that's rather irrelevant, and I don't see how it applies to what you're quoting, unless you're saying there is some biological predisposition that justifies women in the past not getting an education, the right the vote, the opportunity to hold careers, etc. The FACT is that there are plenty of outliers, and what good is it doing them, or society as a whole, to limit their abilities, interests, and potentials through a de facto social bullying? Maybe you don't agree with those expressions. Fine. There are a lot of things I don't agree with. But what harm does it do anyone to be accepting of it versus the harm it does to suppress individuals the comfort to not fall in line?