Egalitarianism

As a feminist (NOT a female supremacist) I often consider the topic of egalitarianism. Many men who do not understand the concept will argue that if women are "equal" we should be doing equal physical labor. They are forgetting that a man lifting 50 pounds and a woman lifting 50 pounds are *not* doing equal labor because it takes more effort for the woman to lift it. And, physicality aside, "equal" in the feminist context refers to equal worth as a human being, not equal ability to lift a weight. However, getting back to physical tasks:

Men have greater strength, due to greater muscle mass and the testosterone that gives each muscle fiber more strength.

Women have greater endurance.

To be truly egalitarian, the man would do tasks requiring shorter bursts of great strength. The woman would do tasks of sustained effort requiring less strength but more continuous time. This way, both people expend effort in the most efficient manner for their own body.

Suppose a man and a woman are working together to split wood for a wood stove or a fireplace.

The woman can use a 5 pound axe to split logs that have a fairly straight grain.

The man can cull out the logs that have knotholes (assuming here that this is the minority of logs) and use his strength to drive a wedge through them with a 10 pound sledgehammer.

When I lived with my parents, Dad and I would divide the work this way. (No, not Mom. She is disabled.) I worked more continuously, which would have winded him, but he had the strength to get through those tough knotholes and I did not. Just for the hell of it, we tried switching tasks once...lol. It did not work at all!

Different does not mean unequal. It does not mean that one has less value than the other. For a really blatant example, try making a baby with just a man or just a woman. Different functions; need 'em both.

Do you have an egalitarian household? Do you want one? If that is your wish, consider how you can make it that way if it isn't already.

If that's not your wish, it's none of my business. But I would like people to at least think seriously about the topic and what it means in life.