International Women's Day: how can we make the world more equal?

oh i'd love to be called dr.

Carriedababi - ah, there was an age issue, of course! You old women. We rarely get to just be women. (Did you see the AIBU thread about being called a girl a couple of days ago? Some good posts in there.)

SarfEasticated and SallyBrownEyes - yeah, we will know we've got equality when coppers aren't trying to chat us up while supposedly providing us with a public service.
Try being 'Dr' - one telesalesperson who could only offer me Mrs or Miss instead suggested I put 'Mr' on my form! But at least when they ring up and ask for Mr DP and I say he is at work, and they say Are you Mrs DP? and I say No I am Dr. myself, they get off the line quickly. Clearly Dr.s do not buy fitted kitchens or insurance over the phone.

well i think he actually said something like come on you bunch of old women...

when both men and women can become pregnant and give birth.

carriedababi - at least he told them to stop being women, we have moved on that far! I can still remember our coach trying to inspire a group of us women rugby players by shouting: "You're a load of girls!"

oh yes jen, i heard a teacher this week telling a load of of boys to stop being women

they were laggiing behind in pe

Applause, teahouse, and many others

-when there's an outcry if men like George Clooney speaks about all the 'chicks' that he's 'f*cked'. What an arse.

-when forms stop asking my maiden name

when we no longer have a pay gap
www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/08/international-womens-day-pay-gap

When the word "girl" is not used as a term of derision, as in

"stop being such a girl"

Oh I am with you there SarfEasticated. A policeman nearly had kittens when he saw Ms on my driving license. He gave me some bull about Ms meaning divorced or widowed, I'm pretty sure he was just fishing the nosey bugger!

Following on from the women-on-TV-panels, I'll be pleased when films with women as the main characters, e.g. Thelma and Louise, are not described as Chick Flicks, while films with men as the main characters are described as, well, films... . I can't stand it when women only appear as wife/girlfriend (after about 20 min of Ocean's Eleven I started to lose the will to live).

Oh and when mothers in films look like real mothers - a few examples of ridiculously young ones here.

When we stop using Mrs and Miss. Why should it be anyone's business whether we are 'available' or not.

and what other posters have said about rape, prostitution and trafficking.

Most of all when they refuse to accept sexism at home.
When like i did they ensure men are as likely as women to arrange childcare.

Perhaps most of all when women marry men who earn less than they do and don't marry older and slightly better off and better educated men as that is the biggest single reason that if one person gives up work it's the women. So when women don't marry good providers whether consciously or otherwise and are themselves the provider they will cease to end up in discriminatory situations.

If we can give fathers greater rights and use it or lose it paternity rights which women don't have and reduce women's rights to maternity irhgts too then we will favour women long term and ensure they are happier and have better balanced lives.

When a non-married and a married women are not differently identified as men aren't; men are Mr whatever whereas women are Miss, Ms, or Mrs (unless you've a title of course!).

Also, when women get an equal role in religion - this doesn't have to be the same role as men, just one that is respected as much. Despite all the talk about women being closer to G-d/Allah/God etc because they can create, they are typically excluded from the public domain - the domain where the laws are!

-- When practically all movies, television shows, and other sources of media can pass the Bechdel test (It has two women it, who talk to each other, about something other than a man). Even better for equality if it can be two women from minority backgrounds/have disabilities/other minority status.

-- Agree with ziptoes - When a father can be the main carer for his children, and nobody thinks twice about it - it's not seen as odd or that his wife must have him under her thumb.

-- When a married couple is forced onto the dole, both parties are seen as equal, it isn't automatically the man who is asked to sign on, and when talking to married couples with children, it won't automatically be assumed the wife is the carer and that the husband is the one who needs work (I had this a while ago - when asked about childcare, I said my husband is their main carer and had been while I was working, I was told "oh, he's got a little experience watching them then" before getting a lovely ten minute speech on how great it would be to be them in nursery so I could relax and go to work. I was then told there was plenty of help for my husband, but I could avail myself of them if I wanted - even though it was I who was made redundant, has the more up-to-date and higher levels of qualifications, etc. It still makes my blood boil a little). Of course it was helpful as it pushed my husband and I to start our own business so I would never have to see them again...

-- When female video games characters are equal to the male characters and have actual, sensible constumes rather than just fan service mini-skirts.

We'll know we have equality when...no-one need think of making statements like this one anymore.

So proud - my 17yr old dd got her teacher to show the video clip to her English set today - she saw it on a newspaper website. She was, however, shocked at attitude about some of her fellow students, who seem to think that women just need to marry a rich man. We may have equality when we all educate our daughters to consider themselves equal!

Equality is worth pursuing jjkm. How would we feel if our daughters would not/could not have children and we had stopped seeking equality. How would we feel if our sons were forced to take jobs they hated to earn more money to have to support their female partners who could have earned the same so they could both work flexibly. We do this for our children male and female and theirs. Things have already improved since I started work 20 years ago.

when we need an international men's day.

Equality is not something worth pursuing jjkm? Just look how far we've come in the last 50 years! And I want my daughters to have even more choice and opportunity than I did/have.

Have you read the rest of this thread - there are so many things that we can all work towards as a society to make life better for everyone - all of which can be part and parcel of raising the next generation to be kind, respectful and all of the things you've listed.

when women stop taking on the majority of the house work
housework is a major

when women are not accused of asking to be raped, due to what they are wearing

when everyone sees being sahp as equal to a job

Mrs Fizzywig-do you mean like Paula Radcliffe being the fastest British marathon runner? Cos tennis is different as it relies far more on short bursts of power rather than long term endurance. Ooh, I just realised: a metaphor for life and gender difference....
jjkm: rofl! Is this from your hilarious series "Women! Know Your Place"?

When a man that does the same amount of housework/childcare as his working partner is viewed as unusual.

When domestic violence is eradiacated

when women can recognise that pornography is not an accepted norm.

when my sons don't have to look at breasts/some derogratory headline when we buy a pint of milk.

when girls are brought up with the same high expectations the same as boys

when the number of girls equal the number of boys at private schools

when the number of men and women as main characters (in fact characters at all) in films and tv are the same (it must be about 90% men 10% women at the moment).

When rapist get decent sentences and the newspapers stop report every single false rape case and ignore the much higher actual rape cases. Sick media bastards.