Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 alpha 4/15/85; site fear.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!mtuxo!mtunh!mtung!mtunf!ariel!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!pesnta!amd!amdcad!cae780!weitek!fear!robert From: robert@fear.UUCP (Robert Plamondon) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Re: Changing Roles Message-ID: <218@fear.UUCP> Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 20:12:36 EDT Article-I.D.: fear.218 Posted: Mon Jul 8 20:12:36 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 11:52:15 EDT References: <993@ubc-vision.CDN> Organization: Weitek Corp. Sunnyvale Ca. Lines: 30 Summary: Another philosiphical trap to watch out for... In article <993@ubc-vision.CDN>, mokhtar@ubc-vision.CDN (Farzin Mokhtarian) writes: > > Quite interesting to see this come from a woman who stands for women's > rights. Do you really believe that women are simply "just different"? > Do you know that the respected psychologists and thinkers of the last > century also argued that women were not inferior, just different. Each > sex was best fit/suited for specific things. > No differences between men and women (other than the physical) have been > proven. Saying that women are "just different" is the kind of thing that > helps to strengthen the "feminine mystique" that women (and men as a result) > have been suffering from for a long time. The trap in this rebuttal is the assumption that women deserve equal rights because they're *JUST LIKE MEN*. If it turned out that there *WERE* some significant differences, on average, between men and women, would you change your mind about equal rights? The talk about various groups DESERVING equal rights misses the point entirely; equal rights are deserved by anybody who can honestly answer "Yes" to the question "Are you sentient?" Even if all the stereotypical beliefs about women and minorities were true, they deserve equal rights ANYWAY! Equal rights aren't a prize you get for outstanding achievement, but the right of every human being. -- -- Robert Plamondon {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!robert