Hijexx wrote:

janelane wrote:

''Whether the issue is improving the involvement of young women and girls in education, to climate change and all political, economic, and social issues in between, I think empowering women is central to what the world has to do in the 21st century,'' he said.

You're damn right.

-janelane

Not trying to be snarky, but what does that mean exactly?

I was at a community activity today and someone offered to help this girl carry a box. She remarked how sweet it was and how rare it is for that to happen these days.

What is "empowering a woman?" Does it mean carry your own boxes and stay out of the way? Where's the line?

whilst i know what you mean I think what you say could be interpreted as insulting when girls are severely restricted from access to even a very basic education in many parts of the world, women in Saudi aren't allowed even to drive or go out unaccompanied in public, female circumcision is widespread in sub Saharan Africa, rape is used to terrorize groups of women in various war zones etc need I go on

Gender politics is rather different in the US than in say Somalia as I know you are aware and negotiating a space and distinction between chivalry and sexism can be fraught with misunderstanding -- renegotiating gender roles etc is difficult

HOWEVER apart from the simple moral case for equality on the basic grounds of justice -- in areas such as population control empowering women through education is widely considered the best method

to me it is a simple question of human rights which has added extra benefits and is a win win

unfortunately as to carrying the boxes the rule book has gone however I do not believe that should mean the death of good manners. Just finding our way through what sometimes seems to be the shifting labyrinth of gender politics can be demanding and sometimes startlingly clear. It is not a simple thing to overturn most of our evolutionary history in the case of gender relationships anymore than our species has found moving from hierarchies based on autocracy/violence/primogeniture (kings and stuff) to democratic consensus based paradigms but I would argue the two parallel each other and are questions of "progress".

RE: Global Initiative Takes on Gender Inequality - NYTimes.com