Feminism on MN confuses gender equality with men and women being the same

[Bookwormqueen]

Why is it hard for people to conceive that men and women may have innate differences in the way they behave and their preferences etc? After all they are different physically and in their hormones, so is it so difficult to see that their brains may be wired and function differently aswell?
Why does anyone who expresses that they may have different preferences get accused of holding sexist views? To be fair, I only find these views very prevalent on MN and I find this quite naive
I believe in gender equality, but I also believe each gender has its strengths and weaknesses (physically and emotionally) and these differences should work to complement each other rather than competing and trying to be the same in the name of feminism

Feminism on MN confuses gender equality with men and women being the same

This was the OP heading- and having read the thread I think Feminism on MN is asserting the same thing as feminism always has; that men and women are the same status. This is what people mean with the phrases gender equality and men and women begin the same, it's all about status. Women want the same status, which has been forcibly removed from us and kept from us (il)legally and we have fought to get it back. So we are a bit (very) sensitive about the explanations given to us for why we are of lesser status . Just my thoughts.

OP - there's a thread right now in Feminism Chat about being a feminist and making "unfeminist" choices (and it's an issue that comes up relatively frequently too). You might find that interesting reading (not least because it will challenge your view on what "MN Feminism" is)

Why do we not hear men casting constant judgement on each other if what they should or should not do?

This is a question that feminists often ask.

On that note, you might also love this other thread on MN - well the video it's linking to.....

You're right, men are not judged in the same way that women are. But that's not feminism, that's patriarchy. The same patriarchy that has a man walking in jeans and a tee-shirt alongside a woman in a burka, or a man walking in jeans and a tee-shirt alongside a woman in high heels with a waxed fanjo, each one reflecting what patriarchy has deemed attractive/appropriate for a woman in that particular society .

And yes, choice. But feminism isn't about looking at the individual choice, but the culture underneath that choice.

So we are a bit (very) sensitive about the explanations given to us for why we are of lesser status . Just my thoughts.

Quite!

I think sex and gender are identical. You are xx or xy female or male. Apart from a handful of intersex folk everything else is nonsense

"Why do we not hear men casting constant judgement on each other if what they should or should not do?"

...maybe because men and women are different, at population level..?

"Why do we not hear men casting constant judgement on each other if what they should or should not do?"

We do all the time, in work, politics , in football, music, everywhere.

Chester youd need to remove socialization to find out

I think sex and gender are identical. You are xx or xy female or male

That's sex.

Gender is different. Gender is based on clothes, hair, makeup, how society treats you and how you respond to society.

The only thing that makes all women the same is their sex.

The only thing that makes all people different is gender.

Take gender out of the equation and you are left with male people and female people who can present how they like to society within the law. So men can wear dresses, heels and makeup and women can wear jeans, shirts and boots. Everyone is treated equally. Not much to ask for really is it. Much easier than trying to take away the identity of half the population by denying their sex.