How should we handle the differences of men &women

[The Lion Turtle]

I need views on men and women, their differences, and how to handle those those differences. I want sources, good arguements, ect., not just a view. I want support like a high school essay ;D

[kura]

This happens to be a very controversial topic (from what I’ve seen on the Cbox ^^ but here are my thoughts, coupled with what I happen to be learning in my sociology class at the moment (weird, huh?):

Men and women are different in two ways: their biological differences and their cultural differences. A biological difference would be a difference that we are born with, such as women having the ability to give birth. Cultural traits, however, are traits men and women possess because they were raised to have them, not because they were born with them.

There are traits that we happen to assume belong to men and women, but, really, it depends on the culture. These traits, such as women being weak and emotional and men being strong and rational, are gender stereotypes. These stereotypes depend on the culture; for example, the anthropologist Margaret Mead conducted a study to see if men really were more aggressive than women (as so many people believe). She studied three African tribes; in two of the tribes, men were dominant, but in the third tribe, women ran the society.

So what does this mean? That men and women act in the manner that they are raised. In applying this to the Avatar world, I will focus on the warriors of Kyoshi. Here, it is perfectly acceptable for women to fight. In fact, men aren’t trained (at least not in that style of fighting). I know it was mentioned that their style of fighting is more feminine or something because they don’t focus on strength, but martial arts are about using as little effort as possible. I take martial arts and learn the same thing as the men do, which is that it is stupid to exert yourself if you don’t have to. It’s all about using your opponent’s strength against them and stuff.

Um, so…in conclusion, a lot of differences between men and women only arise because of the culture. I wouldn’t expect a woman from the Water Tribe to know how to fight, because it isn’t a part of their culture. However, from what we’ve seen of the Earth Kingdom (especially Kyoshi), they don’t seem to be as sexist and, therefore, it would make more sense for women to be able to fight…and stuff ^^; I mean, come on, this is a war and they should be able to fight, or at least defend themselves. Right?

Uh, sorry that was so long...