Celebrating gender differences

Gender equality is important because it gives both men and women the opportunities to advance in life and not to be discriminated against because of their gender. But have you noticed how easy it is to confuse gender equality and sameness? Here’s the importance of celebrating gender differences. 

When we talk about promoting gender equality, we talk about things like equal opportunities or having equal voices that are valued - which is why we have to also understand that accepting each other for our differences is also at the root of achieving equality for all. 

Of course, it’s not a secret that men and women have differences (like physical differences, for example) - and unfortunately, that has been used as an excuse for gender inequality. This -however - doesn’t mean we shouldn’t accept our differences, it means we need to rectify inequality (by not discriminating against each other) and not deny that these differences exist. 

Did you know that even if we are the same gender, it’s possible to have differences? Celebrating gender differences means we give ALL the freedom to express themselves freely, without being looked down on.

This means that people in the LGBTQIA+ community don’t have to feel like they have to conform to society’s restrictive gender stereotypical expectations of what the male or female role should be - which is also the aim of gender equality. To learn more about challenging gender stereotypes, you should read this article. 

Celebrating gender differences shouldn’t be a competition between men and women. Instead, we should all be acknowledging our different strengths and weakness, because at the end of the day - that’s what makes us special and unique. 

In my opinion, being able to celebrate our differences as people can help us work together towards achieving the same gender equality goals. Do you agree Choma?

 You can share your thoughts with me here on Ask Choma, or you can send me a Facebook Message, a Twitter DM, or a WhatsApp Message (071 172 3657).