Equality -does it mean we have to be alike?
Source: Pixabay
Sweden is a fantastic country, a high level of equality. In this post I refer to equality between men and women. Still I have I have noticed an interesting phenomenon.
In Sweden, many people look at equality as similar to be alike. By which I mean that many people think or at least behaves like we all have to act and behave the same way. For example: if a woman tells her friends that she would love staying home with her kids instead of working she might get some strange reactions:
"She might be oppressed!"
"Poor woman, she will lose her salary and her independence!"
"What an unequal relationship she must be in!"
And so on...
My reflexion is that this is very strange. For me equality stands for being treated the same way as others and being treated with respect. It doesn't matter what choices you make in life as long as they don't harm other people. I believe children feel good in the care of their parents. We have an amazing system of affordable daycare centers for kids and paid time off until our kids are one year old. That is awesome! I'm glad that we have this great opportunity, of course. Still, I think that we have to be able to make our own choices.
Source: Pixabay
Another thing that is strange is that so many women related subjects are still taboo in Sweden. Menstruation cycles have the impact on our performance in sports for example. Still, there is very little understanding why I might have better days and days that aren't as good.
Many women at age 35 (or even less) starts to gets depressions. That might depend on menopause soon to be. Which almost no one is aware of, in the year 2018? How come? Many women suffer in silence from heavy bleeding during menstruation or hormonal mood changes during the monthly cycle.
After childbirth you are supposed to be happy, look amazing and take up your physical exercises as fast as possible. "Pregnancy is not an illness", and you have to get fit again as fast as possible when the baby is born.
But for real: I felt awful and fat, happy for the baby but in pain and not able to walk properly for several weeks. No one told me about this during my pregnancy, why?
Source: Pixabay
Lots of taboos in our equal society
During my life, I have been doing many things that I'm supposed to do (from a society point of view). One of these things is to compete with men in the workplace by trying to act like a man. To do so might sound strange, but many women here do that. Dads in Sweden tend to stay home while the kids are babies for some months which is also a fantastic opportunity to build a great relationship with the kid from the start. But in many situations, we (women) tries to adjust to male behavior. Which I have realized isn't necessary. The idea that being alike is similar to being equal is something I noticed, and many people will not agree, which is fine. The thoughts I share in this post are my personal opinion on this matter.
Source: Pixabay
Instead of trying to be alike I would like to celebrate our differences; opposites attract right? I mean the most important thing is to have the courage to be yourself and to do what feels right for you :-) Still we all should have the right to be treated equaly!
Source: Pixabay
I would like to hear your opinions, and I would be happy if you would like to share the experiences from your own country. Are men and women treated equal, and what does that mean?
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