Traditionally, the term man refers to both male and female, it was a way of describing human beings as a collective, mankind. Today, many people consider these traditional terms to be sexist, why do we say “man”? why not “woman”? when men and women are equal.
Interestingly, how can men and women be equal when they have so many differences, from body shapes and types right through to personality traits. Take the book ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ by John Gray for example, this book discusses the fact men and women function in many different ways.
The deeper you look into this topic, the more you will realise that it is ok to compare males to females and females to males, this is the “beauty of variety” and it doesn’t just stop at gender, there are so many other factors that contribute to our differences; race, religion, status and heredity, to name a few. Embracing our differences and accepting people on face value is the best way to ensure equality not only continues but improves as we move forward.
In this day and age, there is less of a gender divide, with more companies taking the correct measures to ensure they have a gender-balanced workforce as well as more women having the courage to consider careers in male-dominated roles and industries. Don’t get me wrong, differences do exist between me and women, however we should let the “beauty of variety” flourish and embrace each other’s differences.
Happy International Women’s Day, or should I say, Happy International Variety Day!