Differences no justification for inequality

Four women in Beijing shaved their heads from Friday to Sunday to protest against what they claim are sexist standards in university enrollments. I applaud the students' courage not just to shave their heads, but to take a stand against all the inequalities in our education system and other facets of society.

Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University in the US, suggested in January 2005 that innate differences between men and women might be one of the reasons why there are fewer women in the science and engineering fields. His remarks received wide criticism and sparked debate over the age-old question: Are there intrinsic differences between men and women in their aptitude for math and science?

I don't want to go into all the experiments on the so-called gender differences; suffice to say that large-scale experiments involving babies and students over the years suggest that there are no differences between boys and girls in their aptitude for math and science.

There are, however, differences in society's perception of men and women. Even parents who don't treat their babies any differently still use words like "strong" or "active" to describe boys yet "soft" and "little" to describe girls. The same biases can be found in almost every aspect of life.

Some people suggest that the difference lies in motives, specifically that women and men want different things.

There are two polarizing sides in the gender equality debate; one trying to turn women into men and the other placing "feminine traits" on a pedestal. In my mind, neither stands for true equality. The former naturally assumes that masculinity is superior, while the latter panders to sentiments such as being a mother is the "greatest job in the world," or femininity involves being "pretty and adored by men."

We should all celebrate motherhood and beauty, but to what extent are these claims encouraging the highest faculty of the human mind?

I'm constantly debating gender equality with my (mostly male) colleagues and friends. Most of them simply dismiss my anger and frustration by saying men and women are different, so we can never be equal. However, people who toe this line anger me even more.

Why is it that a female CEO or president of a company is often asked: "As a women, how do you balance career and family?" Rarely are men in the same position asked to justify their success based on their gender. Why is it still the case in China that when a man looks after a baby, society praises him for being such a good husband and father? The undertone to this glorification is the assumption men don't need to take care of babies.

I remember when I was a student I read an article saying how great it is being a girl because you can dress or act boyishly and people think it's cool, yet boys are chastised if they display femininity. I didn't think much about it back then, but now I realize its underlying sexism in that it extolled traits associated with men as "cool" and stigmatized femininity.

This line of thinking is still prevalent among educators, some of whom have appealed to society to "save the boys" because they are becoming "too feminine."

I agree that men and women are different, but being different shouldn't rule out equality. Don't tell me what I should or shouldn't want or what I can and can't do because of my sex.

By Xuyang Jingjing