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E1.3: Gender Equal Rights a Dangerous Idea

From early on, up until now there has been much opposition towards gender equal rights.

When it comes to gender, there is lots of controversy on who gets rights and who gets left

without them, since not many are onboard with change, nor are they willing to accept this new

normality in their lives. Gender equal rights, are dangerous ideas according to the definition of

Steven Pinker where treating a woman the same as a man and treating the lgbtq community the

same as everyone else in society is only a threat to the individuals whose norms gets challenged,

to which they neglect to a change; however, it is an idea that does not cause harm nor is it toxic,

on the contrary if accepted it will benefit the public. Even so, through constant fight for gender

equal rights it is hard for this dangerous idea to receive acceptance.

Since early ages, the way in which women and men were idolized, has been a

controversial topic. In society, men are often seen as the one with control and power while

women simply listen and are taken advantage of. Women have always been put to play a small

appealing role; however, women start to fight for their equality with the equal rights amendment

for “better-paying jobs in manufacturing,” as well as “opportunities in public vocational and

graduate schools” (Chisholm). Females are constantly being put down since men are seen for

their masculinity as well as a stronger hand in power. However, “working conditions and hours

that are harmful to women are harmful to men; wages that are unfair for women are unfair for

men,” (Chisholm) that’s how it should be, but with a discrimination against sex, women are

denied their rights, since society sees this as a challenge where they “are ill equipped to deal,”

(Pinker) with this situation. In fact, in an article by Neda Shaheen, it is emphasized how

“historically, women have been viewed as a burden on the state and unworthy of citizenship
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without the appendage of a husband” (Shaheen). This not only demonstrates how there is a huge

different in rights between both men and women but it also shows how women have to

practically render themselves to men and society as a whole. With the way that society puts a

specific role on women, they are unable to do much, because “women who are denied individual

nationality are deprived of identity documents, which prohibits them from actively participating

in most of public life,” (Shaheen) where in a case like this, there in not much of an option other

than to accepted the unbalanced fairness. This causes women to lose the rights to their identity as

well as human rights in general, which include their freedom, their recognition, and their rights

to power. As a result of this issue, that is portrayed to be a dangerous idea by people who are not

willing to accept that women and men can both have and be within the same status; it has led

women to continue to fight for equal rights, among themselves, men, and everything else that

was or is being denied to them.

Furthermore, with a fight for gender equal rights, there has been a throughout long

struggle for gender equality towards a specific community for the past decades and even up until

the most recent ones. For the LGBT and LGBTQ community, there has been a constant fight to

be seen as equal with everyone else and to have equal rights despite how they present themselves

to everyone. Many decades have passed where people fight for their rights which can be

emphasized when in 1973 “Marjorie Jones and Tracy Knight sued to get a marriage license, the

court denied the two women’s request, declaring that ‘what they propose is not a marriage,’”

(Geidner 2) clearly showing no support towards the two women. Also, with this, it can be

expressed how there was no neutral stance at court or by the judge, given that the judge already

had their own thoughts, which was being against same sex marriage. In the same way,

discrimination acts like these can be seen in 1991, “After Sharon Kowalski was seriously injured
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in a car accident, her partner, Karen Thompson, spent nearly a decade fighting with Ms.

Kowalski’s family to be named her guardian.”(Geidner 3) This shows that not only random

people are opposed to same sex relationships, but also family members, which in this case there

was an almost ten-year fight to gain at the very least an acceptance of their relationship.

Similarly, in 1996, with Anthony M. Kennedy’s opinions on gay rights, ‘he wrote that the law

was “unprecedented’ in the way that it eliminated a whole group of people’s ‘right to seek

protection from the law,’”(Geidner 3) meaning that with his biased opinions against gay people

he was willing to put them to suffer knowing that they are targeted for presenting themselves in a

way that expresses who they are. Additionally, in 1986 there was a fight against the Sodomy

laws which took years to overturn (Geidner 3), till 2003 when a Supreme Court “ended sodomy

laws nationwide,” (Geidner 6) providing a sense of equality to the LGBT community. However,

even with that being done there was still much discrimination against different gendered people

given the fact that in 2011 “Vandy Beth Glenn was fired from her job… after she told her

employer that she was transgender and would be transitioning,” Expressing a form of

discrimination towards Vandy just because who she chose to identify as was not supported by

her employer, which is clearly unfair. From past decades till now it can be seen how gender

equal rights went from no rights and support to having rights but still being neglected and highly

judged by those who oppose, which can be expressed within this timeline.

Moreover, the LGBTQ community another dangerous idea has faced a wide spread of

neglect from others. This community is not accepted by many and is neglected their rights to be

and live the way they are. Since this topic challenges the way numerous people expect things to

be, it causes a huge back lash. Even so, the lgbtq community has begun fighting for much

equality, such like transgender rights, the defense of marriage act, and the end of sodomy laws.
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(Geidner) Within this community, fairness and choice of rights are not given to them, simply

because they are seen as different and don’t appeal to others’ norms. Of course, obtaining and

being able to keep these rights is challenging. In an article, its stated “Trump administration

issued regulation reversing an Obama-era rule that established nondiscrimination protections for

LGBTQ patients,” (Congressional Digest) which proves a hardship in being able to hold onto

rights that are there to shield. This not only shows LGBTQ community constantly being

neglected but also demonstrates how LGBTQ as a dangerous idea that doesn’t sit right with

various people. On one side this community is respected where “gender identity…which may be

male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female,” while on the other hand “ACA [is]

to not go beyond the ‘plain meaning of the law,’” (Congressional Digest) that is between male

and female. One clearly expresses the acceptance of a person in any way they wish to present

themselves as, while the other has a strong opposing view, in which it’s believe that there can

only be a man and a woman, and no other stance is allowed. Also, in the “spanning of 175

countries…most states have high levels of discrimination, which not only prevents LGBTQ

people from attaining equal rights, but also threatens their well-being,” (Lee) demonstrating the

gap between the ones who accept and the ones who don’t because it’s a “discomforting

[thought],” (Pinker) to them. This community is portrayed as a dangerous idea based on what a

person believes and what they are willing to accept within their terms. Even though there is still a

huge bias towards this community the fight for gender equal rights is still ongoing.

Much controversial thoughts are put in mind when discussing gender equal rights. From

female, to male, to the LGBTQ community, the fight for gender equal rights is a dangerous idea

in relation to Steven Pinker’s definition, since it only challenges a person’s way of thinking but

in no way does it cause harm to others. It’s a topic that causes no harm, and yet other individuals
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don’t agree with this change since it is distinct from their living norm. Gender equal rights has

been and continues to be a widely controversial topic, which with the movement towards

equality there is a seek for acceptance and non-discrimination views on all people.
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Work Cited

A version of this article appears in print on June 23, 2019, SectionF, Page6of the New York

editionwith the headline:The Cases That Changed L.G.B.T.Q.

Rights.©2020TheNewYorkTimesCompany

Chisholm, Shirley Anita St. Hill. “For the Equal Rights Amendment.” American Rhetoric: Top

100 Speeches. American Rhetoric,edited byMicheal E. Eldenmuller, 2016,

www.americanrhetoric.com/top100speechesall.html. Accessed 20 August 2016.

Lee, Chelsea, and Robert L. Ostergard Jr. “Measuring Discrimination Against LGBTQ People: A

Cross-National Analysis.” Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 1, Feb. 2017, pp. 37–72.

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Foundation,29 Apr.2011,www.edge.org/conversation/steven_pinker-preface-to-dangerous-

ideas.Accessed 24 Aug. 2016.

“Pros & Cons of Rolling Back LGBTQ Rights Under ACA: Reverting to the ‘Plain Meaning’ of

‘Sex’ versus Civil Rights.” Congressional Digest, vol. 99, no. 8, Oct. 2020, p. 30.

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Shaheen, Neda. “Discriminatory Nationality Laws Must Be Eliminated in Order to Eradicate

Statelessness.” DePaul Journal for Social Justice, vol. 11, no. 2, Summer 2018, pp. 1–17

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