Thoughts on equality from a dad

As a father of two girls I pay close attention to the current feelings about women and inequality in the workplace and in the world. The thing I keep stumbling on is the entire cultural change that truly has to happen for that equality to exist. It’s easy to say things are better than they were but we still have a long way to go if we are talking about true equality.

To get to the place where women are valued only for there contributions and not their physical attributes is going to take an overhaul from the ground up that I just don’t believe is going to happen. Think about what we see everyday. As I drive to work I’m surrounded by half clothed women in advertising pitching me anything from burgers to deodorant. And so are my daughters and young boys.

Every where my 14 year old daughter looks she sees images of the kind of body and face she needs to be considered beautiful. She and my 3 year old love Disney movies and their heroines. Of course the heroines look totally unrealistic and start setting expectations at a very young age.

It’s not just things on tv or around them either it’s also the toys they play with and the roles they see themselves in. Take a look at my 3 year olds situation. She got a kitchen for Christmas. That’s what she wanted. It has a broom and pots and pans and a washing machine. To me it sounds like a terrible gift. In contrast my nephew got some toy guns, a race car and some video games. At three my daughter is starting to train herself that she belongs in the kitchen. That it’s her job to cook and clean and be happy in that role. While my nephew is taught to have fun and pursue his own interests. I can hear your eyes rolling. “She’s just 3" says my mom, it’s to early to matter.

I disagree. It’s going to take all of us to change this. My wife she feels bad if the house is not clean and dinner is not ready. Who cares that she works 40+ hours a week as a dentist. But she puts that on herself because our culture subtly puts that on women. To ask women and men to change their perception once they are grown is futile. You can shift that perception but I believe it is always there.

I believe our culture is set up to make women into domestic homemakers first and savvy business people second. We need to start the conversation on how to change our culture much earlier than when women hit the work place.