Egalitarianism

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'''Egalitarianism''' is, technically speaking, a trend of thought that favours equality for all people.<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/egalitarian Egalitarian | Define Egalitarian at Dictionary.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>  According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term has two distinct definitions in modern English:<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/egalitarianism Egalitarianism - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> either as a political doctrine that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, [[social justice|social]], and [[civil rights]];<ref>{{cite web |title=[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/egalitarianism egalitarianism] |author=The American Heritage Dictionary |year=2003}}</ref> or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people, economic egalitarianism, or the decentralization of power.<ref name=gawdy>{{Cite book|title=Limited Wants, Unlimited Means: A reader on Hunter-Gatherer Economics and the Environment |author=John Gowdy  |year=1998 |publisher=Island Press |location=St Louis |isbn=1-55963-555-X |page=342 }}</ref><ref name="Dahlberg">{{Cite book|author=Dahlberg, Frances. |title=[https://books.google.com/?id=eTPULzP1MZAC&pg=PA120&dq=Gathering+and+Hominid+Adaptation Woman the Gatherer] |location=London |publisher=Yale university press |year=1975 |isbn=0-30-002989-6}}</ref><ref>Erdal, D. & Whiten, A. (1996) "Egalitarianism and Machiavellian Intelligence in Human Evolution" in Mellars, P. & Gibson, K. (eds) Modeling the Early Human Mind. Cambridge MacDonald Monograph Series</ref> However, in recent years it has been used by anti-feminists to justify their opposition to [[feminism]] and [[affirmative action|female quotas]] being on the basis of equality.<ref>{{cite web|title=[http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/jul/12/scientist-equalist-not-feminist A scientist's view: why I'm an equalist and not a feminist]|work=The Guardian|year=2013}}</ref><ref>[[David Cameron]] justifies his [[feminism]] on the grounds of [https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153599626961939/ being an "equalist"].</ref>

==Relation to feminism==
{{cquote|If you see someone proclaiming themselves as an "egalitarian" rather than a "feminist" '''run away as fast as you can'''. "Egalitarian" has become a buzzword anti-feminist MRAs use to pretend to be progressive. In their minds, everyone has an equal opportunity and therefore feminism (and other progressive movements) is unnecessary, rather than recognizing how not everyone gets an equal outcome out of that initial equal opportunity. [[Affirmative action]] of any kind is seen as discriminatory against the majority, rather than an attempt to correct centuries of bias against women and others.<ref>[[Feminism]] article on RationalWiki. ([http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Feminism&oldid=1647053 Revision as of 05:06, 28 March 2016], in case text has changed.)</ref>}}
In reality, claiming to be an egalitarian but not a feminist is a [[distinction without a difference]]. Feminists and egalitarians both agree that men and women deserve equal opportunities and rights.<ref group=note>However, this doesn't always go both ways, as there are some [[TERF|transphobes]] in the feminist movement.</ref> Most feminists will argue that the reason "feminism" is used instead of "egalitarianism" when discussing gender inequality is that it focuses on women's issues – as they are the most affected by gender discrepancies – but at the same time not detracting from men's issues, often making analogies to the African-American civil rights movement and the LGBT rights movement.<ref>Caroline Dorey-Stein. [https://www.progressivewomensleadership.com/feminism-why-not-egalitarianism-or-humanism/ "Feminism: Why Not 'Egalitarianism' or 'Humanism'?"] ''Progressive Women's Leadership''. 24 September 2015.</ref> In short, feminism is a form of egalitarianism with a focus on gender issues.<ref name=Skep />

However, more often than not, [[MRA]]s use "egalitarianism" as a way of promoting pro-MRA beliefs under the guise of equality,<ref name=Skep>Melanie Mallon. [http://skepchick.org/2015/10/bad-chart-thursday-egalitarianism-vs-feminism/ "Bad Chart Thursday: Egalitarianism vs. Feminism"] ''Skepchick.org''. 29 October 2015.</ref> in the same way [[David Duke|"Dr." David Duke]] promotes his racist garbage under the guise of [[civil rights]] for white people.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_oquznSz3c "You are a racist" – David Duke]</ref> 

==See also==
*[[Humanism]]
*[[Equality]]

==Notes==
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==References==
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