hardenfelt
19.02.06, 15:33
Though some people may not like this the concept of equal rights between men
and women is now an established concept within the European Union and all
member states must accept this principle.
The enormous wealth in our region means that marriage is no longer the basic
economic fundament in society – or at least it doesn’t need to be. More and
more people choose to live alone or create one-parent families. Even in
Poland. The character of jobs has changed – machines do the hard physical
work and nothing indicates that female brains make them unfit to take up the
position of an accountant or a lawyer. Efficient birth control gives every
woman the possibility to decide when and if she wants children – and one or
two maternity leaves should not be able to destroy a career – especially as
many men now also take maternity leave.
Now – people are different. Some may prefer traditional roles, and it is far
from my viewpoint to force these people to do something against their will.
But when people are in a public room then we are all equal today. Like it or
not – the public room is unisex.
This is where we come to Polish habits of opening doors, letting women first
through a door or even worse – hand kissing, though this thanks Allah-Jahve-
Budda seems to be disappearing. It’s a paternalistic reminiscence from a past
era and it’s an insult to women. When a man opens a door to a women he really
tells her: “Look – I’m stronger and more intelligent than You, so this is why
I’ll protect You”. It’s simply a lack of respect for the achievements of the
past century.
Quite a few woman would probably disagree with me and claim that they think
it’s nice that guys open the doors for them. I also think it would be nice if
people opened doors for me, but not if I should pay with my self-respect and
put myself in a nice-little-girl (or boy) role.