Women should be treated equally to men.

Okay. First let me start with the reasons women and men shouldn't be treated equally. Men and women are different by reason of their roles in reproduction. A difference which by no means is subtle, And manifests in the social interactions between the sexes. It can be stated that the physical differences, Including those of the brain, Are manifestations of these reproductive roles. And through our interactions with each other as well as our environment, We've established culture--which by nature is utilitarian. Now our roles in reproduction while equally necessary, Are not of equal value. Assuming no issues with fertility, A woman's ability to reproduce is far more scarce than that of a man's. She has just about 400 eggs over her life time, Not to mention a 36-44 week gestation period. During that gestation period, She also faces many risks, One which includes death. Furthermore, Her fertility monotonically decreases after the age of 19, Where her fertility is highest. In contrast, A man can produce 525 Billion sperm cells during his life time. He has no gestation period, And faces no prominent risks. As long as he has an erection (and sometimes not even that, ) and his sperm count isn't unusually low, He can fertilize any woman who's ovulating. Not to mention, His virility doesn't decrease monotonically over time. Now what does this have to do with equal treatment? Everything. Politics didn't start out as the pageant it is today, Or the medieval intrigue one watches on Game of Thrones. It consisted primarily of disputes among warring tribes. Now if I am a Chieftan, And there are 30 men, And 30 women in my tribe, Whom do I risk? Do I send 25 women off to war or parlay and 25 men? If I do that, Then my tribe has only five chances at reproduction every 36-44 weeks. With the sophisticated medical technology back then, I'm sure infant mortality rates or the mother's survival weren't issues? (I jest. ) So what if I send 25 women off to war, And just 10 men? The result is the same. Reproduction occurs at the woman's pace not the man's. She gestates. So if I decide to send 25 men to war, And just 10 women, My tribe now has 20 chances at reproduction because 20 women were left behind. The five men remaining can inseminate and fertilize the remaining 20 women. Do you see the logic? Now Athias, We're not "warring tribes" anymore (? ) Why would we hold on to this antiquated logic? Because the politics isn't the premise; reproduction is. Women's reproduction is still a scarce resource. And this manifests in many other ways. For example, Why are women more selective in choosing mates? Why are women's bodies a composite of sexual parts, And therefore idealized, Or sometimes idolized? Why do men tend to be more aggressive against other males when pursuing female mates? We treat each other different because we are different. I know your argument is normative--i. E. Women "should" be treated equally. This presumes a homogeneous set of values to which all individuals must consign themselves. How do I see you as "equal" when I stare at you and see differences? How does this not manifest conceptually? How do I not see you as different when your appearance and behavior are distinct from my own? You say that we should, But the utility derived from being treated equal is being treated equal. It doesn't change that we're different and our conscious and subconscious acknowledgement of this will play itself out. We treat children differently because we acknowledge our differences. Why wouldn't we do the same as it concerns men and women? Now there are a couple of points of yours I want to address because I don't want to leave it be until I rebut your rebuttal, So I'll try to be as concise as possible: (1) "It is appalling that women were not granted the right to vote in America until 1920. " - This is patently false. Women had the right to vote in the United States, In the Western territories, During the Western Frontier. The reason was that most of the West was settled by prostitutes. The right of women to vote wasn't repealed until the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887 in the government's campaign against the Mormons. And to add insult to injury, Women had this right to vote without being conscripted to military service. (2) "It is completely unfair that women did not have the same opportunities as men in the U. S military until 2016. " - Women couldn't pass the physical tests until the standards were lowered in 2016. (3) Furthermore, It is absolutely disgusting that marital rape was not a crime in all 50 states until 1993. - This cuts both ways. Sex was deemed a conjugal right. A woman could not deny her husband sex, And a man could not deny his wife sex. There was actually a case in India where a woman sued her husband for denying her sex. (4) "According to the national sexual violence resource center one in five women will be RAPED at some point during their lives. " The statistics are skewed and examine a non-representative sample--if I remember correctly, Just two college campuses were examined. The CDC also included "drunken penetration" as a standard which constitutes sexual assault. The actual statistic is about 1 in 52. That's not great, But it's not exaggerated either. (5) "There are certain countries that treat their women as second class citizens. An example of this would be countries who practice Sharia Law. " - Sharia law doesn't treat women as second class citizens. It treats them as human "protectorates. " They submit to their husbands because their husbands are responsible for them. This cuts both ways. He has authority, But he also has responsibility. But to delve into Sharia, It requires a far more in depth discussion. (6. ) Women make significantly less money than their male counterparts. . . - Women are not paid less because of their being women--at least, No evidence of that has been discovered yet. Women who are paid different are paid different for several reasons: (1) Women on average work fewer hours, (2) Women are more likely to exchange increases in raw wages for benefits (3) Women tend towards fields which pay less, (4) Women with identical education, Marital status, And age actually earn 3% more than their male counter-parts, (5) there's a motherhood gap, Not a female gap (6) women have more temporal flexibility, As pointed out by Claudia Goldin, In fields where high yields are earned with reduced temporal flexibility. The wage gap exists, Just not for the reasons feminists offer. (7) Many still stay that women have no place in combat. I hear all the time that women should not be allowed to fight in combat because we are genetically weaker than men. This is absolutely ridiculous. . . . Some women are every bit as strong as a man. - Take this into consideration: the average teenage boy is just as strong as the average adult female. It's informs how a grown man can fend off two female officers seeking his compliance; it's how a high school boys team, All who are under the age of 15, Can defeat the U. S. Women's National team at an athletic contest like soccer. Of course the generalizations aren't applicable in all individual cases, But you've got to admit that the generalization in this case is quite convincing. If I am an organization, And I have a choice between male combatants and female combatants, My best bet would be on the male combatants. (8) Women's products such as razors, Shaving cream, Deodorant, Shampoo, Conditioner, And socks often cost significantly more than the exact same men"s products. Men and women's demands for hygienic products differ; women have a larger demand for hygienic products and control for 80% of consumer spending; therefore, Their products cost more. The solution is rather simple, And you've already alluded to it--purchase male products. If the products are the "exact same" as you suggest, Then the transition should be seamless. But why haven't women moved to male products? Because the products are different.