Equality vs Equity – Week 8

Gender equality is a widely acclaimed topic that over the years assumes the existence of only one gender, the female gender. The messages and campaigns relay a situation that women have deliberately been cheated and sidelined in the workplace as well as at home.

It paints a picture that women experience injustice, especially as men do not want women at the top. And then the noise for “Beijing conferences” – freedom, emancipation and liberation become a singsong home and abroad. Who caged the women?

In a complete contrast and twist-in-tale, some other women believe that women are their own enemies. Most men just fold their arms and watch the drama while others feast on this opportunity to begin the marginalization in earnest. Most men were not brought up to appreciate and applaud the difference or complimentary nature of both genders. The story sold to them as boys is the superiority of the male gender. The girls on the other hand were told that they needed to fight for equality and freedom at all cost. Are we comparing apples and oranges because both are fruits? We are quick to forget that we were naturally created to play different roles in the circle of life.

In the workplace, as we aspire and break the glass ceilings, gaining possession of the corner office, we differ by nature and have preferred choices. The needs of a 35 year old female CEO, varies from the needs of a 35 year old male CEO. They are both CEO’s, yet the gender defines their needs and preferences. This plays a big role when HR departments designs reward system and begin to customize and categorize the needs of different groups of employee. Infact, within the same gender, needs are re-classified and grouped again according to age or class. The likelihood that a 50 years old woman will vote a crèche service is much lower as compared to a newly wedded 27 year old bride who is heavily pregnant. So why sell the “Equality” sentiment using the gender bias instead of a more rounded collaborative approach of “Equity” where everyone wins?

If you look at athletes on the field, running a 200 meters race or a 4 x 100 meters relay, they do not place them on the same line. To the ordinary eyes, it may seem very unfair to do so, but we all know that once the corner is rounded, the athletes on the inner lane suddenly have a shorter distance to cover; hence the take off point of each athlete is staggered to compensate for this. Now that is Equity – A fairness that takes into cognizance the reality of a nursing mother and creates a crèche at work and realizes the men may need to relax and create a gym/bar. Either way, both services have been provided. In reality, one service is more generic to a gender or a particular group of people than the other, at least within our cultural disposition. However, equity rather than equality has ensured that both needs were met.

For example, men and women should get the same number of tissue papers in their convenience at work as women do. Now that is equality. But in the story of equity, women need more tissues, some wipe etc. in their convenience, now that is equity! Was the equity story sold to the men when they were young boys? Didn’t we always look for a way for the girls to become like the boys instead of remaining a female and compete healthily for the same roles in organizations with all the complexity that may be related to the gender? What happened to the different roles God created us to play? If we continue to propagate the equality story, the disabled, who require completely different working conditions, will not have a friendly place to work.

Are men and women the same? NO! Are Boys superior to girls? No! One of the greatest bane has been the deficit attention given to the boys over the years. The same deficit raises its ugly head also in marriage where men fail in their responsibility. The XY chromosomes that determine the male gender is different from the XX chromosomes which forms the girls. It is indeed time to tilt the scale a little bit for the boys, so that we can compensate for a good balance in future.

Equality can be found in Equity but trust me, Equity is absent in Equality. Equity is ultimately the conscience and the spirit of the law, but equality is the letters of the law, read and carried out as it appears in ink without consideration for underlying factors.

Equality often presents inferiority and depicts inadequacies. Equity recognizes a fair standing where boys also get mentored and tutored to become excellent men. Equity does not only see the weakness often associated with the girl-child, but a balance that also identifies the needs of the boys. Ultimately, we will need to find a good balance between exposures to teddy bears, dolls as much as blocks. We will then seek to find that space where insecurity raises it head high.

Our campaign for equality has denied the boys any opportunity of being mentored properly because our focus places the male/man as a more superior being but it is a facade! The male gender has its many inadequacies and shortcomings. If all things were complete with them; God wouldn’t have decided to create a woman as a partner.

It is just a difference in need. Equality is just another way of telling women to throw away those valuable God-given feminine virtues. Equality is another way of pitching the boys against the girls. Equity will teach the men the grace to respect women, and will garner a natural empathetic response which is softer, non-competitive and almost devoid of gender biases at the end of the day. We all need to learn “Equity” in all its grandeur. I am very proud to be a woman but I am not a feminist. I have been co-mentored by great men and women who understood equity across gender. Remember, it’s not about Perfection!