EQUALITY
Friday
January 16, 2015

I was watching a news program the other day, and one of the reports concerned the disparity between men's and women's pay. In keeping with a disturbing new trend, the anchor reported the facts, and in such a way that left no room for doubt as to where the reporter stood, without actually coming out and saying anything concrete one way or the other. I don't know about you, but I don't want to hear a reporter's personal feelings on their story, I just want the facts. When you start giving out your feelings, you start clouding the story, you start leaving out essential facts or giving more weight to facts that would be otherwise meaningless.

Either way, the story got me to thinking. For the longest time, I've been a staunch supporter of equal rights, not just for women, but for everyone. However, it bothers me to see people wanting equal rights when it's convenient for them, and than clamoring for special treatment in other areas.

For example, let's examine the issue of a woman being hit by a man. If you've ever watched some of these "reality" TV talk shows, like Steve Wilkos, for example, than you've no doubt seen Steve getting into more than 1 man's face and telling him that there's no excuse for putting his hands on a woman, even if the woman hit him first. Uh, say what? Why is it okay for a woman to hit a man, but a man can't hit back, even if it's to defend himself? I don't know about you, but I know plenty of women that will kick a man's ass up and down small world on her worst day and his best day, no matter how much of a fight he puts up, so why should he be denied his right to defend himself?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it's okay for a man to hit a woman, but not for the reasons you may think. It has nothing to do with the woman being of the "fairer" sex (fairer as in weaker, more fragile, not in more just). Instead, it has to do with the fact that it's wrong for anyone to put their hands on someone, man or woman. The only exception, in my opinion, is if you absolutely need to do so to protect yourself, and even than, only to the extent absolutely necessary.

While you're considering whether or not it's all right to put your hands on a woman to defend yourself, consider this: women have been arguing, for years now, that they're more than ready, willing and able to do the same tasks as a man, and just as good, if not better. Personally, I don't doubt it, not for a moment, although, as with anything, there are exceptions to the rule. That being said, equal rights means equal rights, all across the board. If it's okay for a man to hit another man to defend himself, than it should be okay for a man to hit a woman to defend himself.

Another thing, why is it that women's lives are considered more valuable than men's lives during an emergency? When a ship's sinking, all you hear is "women and children first," and while I can certainly agree with putting children first, I can't say that I necessarily agree with putting women first, but again, not for the reasons most might think. It has nothing to do with believing that a man's life is more valuable, but it has everything to do with equal rights. If a woman wants equal rights, than she has to accept full equality across the board.

I fully support a woman's right to equality. In fact, I welcome it. Equal rights has the potential for a great deal of change, positive change, but only if it's implemented across the board, in all areas of life.

As far as hitting someone's concerned, the issue of wrongdoing shouldn't have anything to do with a person's sex, but should instead focus on why the person was hit in the first place, immediately followed by whether or not use of force was justified and/or excessive. While I've never, ever hit a woman in my entire life, that doesn't mean that I can't foresee the need to defend myself, especially in today's world. I don't know about you, but I've seen plenty of instances of women who are stone cold killers, gang members, members of terrorist organizations, etc. Should I be refrained from protecting myself for them just because they don't have a penis?

I'm not against equality, far from it, but equality is an all or nothing concept. You can't be treating some people equally in some areas, and not in others, or allowing some people equal rights but not others, regardless of the reason.

Shawn L. Perrot CDCR# V-42461
CMC-East Cell# 6326
P.O. Box 8101
San Luis Obispo, CA 93409-80101

shawnlperrot@hotmail.com