[Cado]

Originally Posted by Lioness

There's something I love about keeping little traditions like this. It's not like saying - you poor weak female, I, the big strong man will open the door for you. It's more of a respect thing. Like putting women on a pedestal as a tradition. I like being on a pedestal occasionally! I don't think this equates to discrimination, any more so than men greeting each other with a fist bump or shoulder bump, when they wouldn't do the same to a woman.

And why is it good or desirable to put someone on a pedestal purely because of their genitals? If anything I think that's responsible for a good many of our problems in society. No one should be given respect they haven't in some way earned.

Yeah, I thought about nude beaches. But they're not the norm and it's your choice to go there. Suppose fitness centers started adopting unisex locker rooms and showers. Suppose the bathrooms on your job and bathrooms in public building and malls were not designated by gender. Suppose school gyms and college dorms had all-gender bathrooms with open showers. Would we get used to it? Should we?

I fail to see how it's a bad thing. Yeah, it'd be uncomfortable out of the gate given the society I grew up in, but I wouldn't be at all opposed to it nor do I think there's any valid reason to be on the basis of gender alone.

More than just the draft, what bothers me is the idea of women going into infantry and other combat arms. Not because women are delicate little things that must be kept out of harm's way. But because IMO, this would compromise military effectiveness. Let's be real. With some exceptions, of course, men are bigger, stronger and faster. There are plenty of things women can do as well, if not better than men; fighting against men on a physical level isn't one of them. Even if a woman can meet the same physical fitness standards required of men (currently, there is a lower standard for women) and want to be infantry etc, I think the gender politics would still be a distraction. We can't afford to lessen our strength in combat - it's life and death, and the fate of a nation at stake.

If a woman is just as capable of doing the job as a man then why shouldn't she be on infantry? Perhaps there are fewer women who are suited to the job than men, but with the variety of weapons we use today and the heavy reliance on firearms I don't see any major hurdle that would prevent a woman from fulfilling that role. This reeks of "don't ask, don't tell" to me-the justifications for both seem pretty similar.

We are different creatures and not interchangeable in all situations. I think there are still a few things that should be kept women/girls only and some men/boys only.

I don't see it. About the only thing women can do that men can't is give birth. I'm perfectly happy to leave that to the ladies, but as far as I can tell that's the only hard limitation nature has placed on us. Women can get just as strong as the average man with a bit of work (keep in mind that men aren't naturally strong, they have to work for their muscle too) and I can't think of anything women can do that men are totally unsuited for. We can take care of children, we can be nurses, we can do all the things which are considered "woman's work". The kind of thinking which says otherwise is entirely based in stereotypes.